The Great Duel Monster Caper
by Kender20
Summary: AU. A team of underpaid overachievers travel to America to gather a news story that will help solve a fashion industry murder mystery, but winds up taking matters to their own hands. Based on the movie, "The Great Muppet Caper". Multiple pairings.
1. Prolouge

Note: Well, things are going slow for me and my Plasmashock fic. It's gets so hard to think up the plot after all. Anyway, while I was working on that, I was inspired by a friend, BlackRoseDragonCK, to write a brand new fanfic! And this is what I came up! The storyline is based on the movie, "The Great Muppet Caper", but I added some twists and turns and changed up some of the plot to fit the characters. This one has Polarshipping, some Blueshipping, and of course, some Revolutionshipping in honor of BlackRoseDragonCK! In any case, I hope you'll enjoy the story as much as I enjoy making it. I took the plot of "The Great Muppet Caper" and put it on its ear... so come right in, we're gonna start right here!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh! Nor do I own the plot of "The Great Muppet Caper"! And you know what? I'M GLAD I DON'T!

**The Great Duel Monster Caper**

Prologue

A bright sunny day… A perfect day to go on a balloon ride. Such was the case of a certain pair of magicians, riding in one such hot air balloon that is patterned with shades of violet.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" A young man, Mahaad, stated. He had long straight hair in a dark shade of violet, and blue-green eyes. He wore a simple white T-shirt, and over that, a flowing button shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He also had on some blue jeans and a pair of tennis shoes. He and his companion had to wear casual clothes instead of the usual armor and robes, all the better to blend in with the public.

The companion was a girl, Mana by name, with green eyes and blonde hair styled to make it look like it was floating in water. She had a T-shirt with a Hello Kitty icon on the front. She also had a short skirt, long stockings and cute black shoes. She looked from the basket nervously. "Master…?"

"Yes?"

"…I'm scared. What if we drift off to sea, never to be seen or heard from again? Or—Or what if a thunderstorm comes up and we get struck by lightning?"

"Mana, there's nothing to be afraid of." Mahaad reassured. "Besides, the sky is clear; there's nothing but rays of sunshine. And besides, we have an excellent view of our destination."

"Destination?" Mana asked, curious, "What destination?" There was no need for words, for the disguised Dark Magician pointed downward. There, as far as the eye can see, was a bird's eye view of a very famous city. "Wow!" Mana gasped in amazement.

"There it is!" Mahaad stated, "Tokyo!"

"It looks fantastic!" Mana noted. "I guess you're right! There's nothing to be afraid of!" The disguised Dark Magician Girl paused for a moment.

"What's the matter?" Mahaad asked.

"Um… my ears feel like they're popping." Mana answered, "Is that normal in high altitudes like this?"

"Yes Mana."

She looked down again. "It's so high up… I heard that there are people who like to jump out and plummet through the sky in a free-fall."

"It's called skydiving."

"Really? Oh… They don't black out when they land, do they?"

"Of course not. They always make sure they land safely." Mahaad leaned over the edge of the basket to look down. "But of course, skydiving doesn't have much to do with the story I'm going to tell you."

"A story?" Mana piped up.

"That's right." Mahaad replied, climbing back inside, "And this city is the starting point, the beginning. And I'll do more than just tell you about it, we'll get to witness it as it happens!"

"Awesome!" Mana gasped in excitement, "How far are we from Tokyo?"

"We're right over it."

"Okay!" Mana stated cheerfully and began tugging on the rope hanging above them in the balloon.

"MANA, WAIT!" Mahaad shouted in shock. But it was too late. Mana had pulled hard, and the balloon was quickly loosing its hot air. It started falling soon after, and the magicians started screaming.

"EEEEEK! WE'RE GOING DOWN!" Mana screamed. As fate would have it, the balloon was plummeting right in the middle of a street in Tokyo.

"HEADS UP BELOW!" Mahaad shouted in warning through a megaphone. The crowd below them took heed, and rushed out of the way, just in time for the now-deflated hot air balloon to make an impact on the sidewalk and covered its passengers. As the people watched the spectacle, Mahaad barked at his pupil in frustration. "Would it kill you to land this thing in an open space, and NOT in the middle of the street?"

Sheepishly, Mana climbed out from under the deflated balloon. "Sorry Master. I wasn't thinking."

Her master climbed out after her. "Never mind about that, we're here either way. Follow me." And follow she did. The crowd moved on with their daily lives, and once again Mana grew excited.

"Master," she asked, "What's this story about? It must be very exciting!"

"It's more than that." Mahaad replied with a playful smirk. "It's got action, adventure, some mystery, a pinch of comedy, and a sweet slice of romance! Mana, this story is bound to knock your socks off!" Suddenly as they were crossing the street, a car came out of nowhere, and at the same time a man ran in front of them with a box full of Scapegoats. The resulting crash came so quickly that Mana had no time to react. Although she managed to avoid the crash, she stepped on one of the escaped scapegoats and lost her footing, thereby flipping over the now-destroyed box and landing on her rear. "Mana!" Mahaad shouted in concern.

The Dark Magician Girl sat up, rubbing her back. "I'm fine. I just landed on my bum." Of course, all that commotion caused a bit of a traffic jam. All the people in the cars yelled angrily and honked their horns, once again attracting the attention of the crowd.

"Hey!" One man shouted, rushing and panting toward the scene as Mahaad lifted his pupil to her feet and out of the way. He had spiky black hair held up by a headband decorated with cresting waves, a short light blue kimono and a pair of sandals. "Ryouta Kajiki is here to help!" the man Ryouta shouted. He never got a chance… he fell right into a manhole with a very surprised yelp. All the while the noise got louder and louder until…

"SHUT UP!" Mahaad bellowed. The whole crowd turned and stared at him in bewilderment, growing silent. Satisfied, the Dark Magician turned around and walked with his apprentice again. "Okay, now where was I? Oh yes! This story is about a set of identical twins, one Atem and Yugi Mutou, both of whom are overachievers. Together with their friends, Jonouchi Katsuya and Honda Hiroto, they work as underpaid investigative reporters in the Tokyo Nendaiki blog and newspaper." The magicians let out a scream, barely dodging yet another incoming car. Nevertheless, Mana could barely contain her excitement.

"Oh wow!" she stated, "I can't wait to meet them in person!"

"Me neither!" Mahaad replied, "In fact, we don't have to wait! Here they are now!" He pointed beyond them and Mana turned toward that direction, the scene shifted to four young men.

One had sandy blonde hair that appeared rather messy and hazel-brown eyes. He wore a short jacket over a white T-shirt, gray jeans and brown shoes.

The second had brown hair shaped like a unicorn's horn in the front. He had a brown leather jacket over a pale yellow T-shirt, dark blue jeans and plain black boots. His hazel eyes glared at the old fashioned camera he held in his hands.

And then, there's the twins themselves. They each had a gracefully thin builds, and they each had spiky black hair lined with crimson edges, and golden bangs shaped like lightning framing their handsome faces. Both wore black tank tops and blue jackets, studded black collars, blue denim pants held up by studded belts, and studded black boots. The crimson eyes of the younger twin were a little wide, hinting a bit of innocence, while those of the elder twin had a sharper edge to it.

The Dark Magician and his apprentice slipped into the background. "This is where the story begins." Mahaad stated.

* * *

"All right guys, you know the drill." The younger twin reminded his friends, "We need to find a great story to post in the newspaper AND in the blog."

"I'm on top of it Yugi!" replied the sandy blonde, "Although from the looks of things it seems pretty peaceful to me."

Little did he realize that things were about to get a lot less peaceful. A figure in a brown trenchcoat paused as the four friends passed by. He removed his sunglasses, long spiky white hair billowing from under a fedora, blue eyes scanning for his target. He sported a wicket smirk, and walked toward a building on the other side of the street. Ryouta climbed out of the manhole then, only to have his fingers stepped on by the suspicious figure. The fisherman in the manhole yelped in pain, then proceeded to stick his whole hand into his mouth.

"Peaceful as it may be Jonouchi," the elder twin explained seriously, "We still need to stay alert. You never know when something disturbing might happen."

"C'MON WILL YA?" the young man with unicorn hair suddenly yelled, smacking the side of the camera he was holding. The elder twin turned to face him.

"Honda… what the hell are you doing?"

"It's that stupid camera, Atem!" replied the young man, Honda, "All I ask for is a state-of-the-arts digital camera that would make our job much easier, but our boss just had to give us this old fashioned, outdated **paparazzi** camera with a flash bulb!"

"Well you know our boss better than he knows himself!" replied the sandy blonde, Jonouchi. "And if we just stand here worrying about that thing, we might miss out on a great story and you know how mad he's gonna get if we miss out!"

"That's right Honda," added the younger twin, Yugi, "Quit messing around!"

"At least let me test it out on those Scapegoats," Honda stated in frustration as one Scapegoat wobbled in front of him. "It's so outdated, I don't even know if it works anymore!"

"We don't have time for this!" the elder twin, Atem, murmured in equal frustration.

Right behind them, that was when the suspicious figure sprang into action. Donning a gas mask with a built-in voice-altering machine, he dashed toward a rich and fashionable lady and her entourage. They all stood in their tracks the moment he took something out: a large pistol. "This is a stick up! Nobody move!" And to prove it, he shot one unsuspecting bodyguard on the leg and slammed the weapon on the head on another, knocking him cold. He then grabbed the lady by the neckline of her expensive dress, clutching a bejeweled necklace in the process. "These baubles belong to me now! Hand them over!"

"NO! DON'T! HELP! HELP!" screamed the lady, "LET GO OF ME, PLEASE!"

Yugi and Atem spun around just in time to see the crime in progress. "GIMME THAT CAMERA!" Yugi shouted, snagging the camera right out of Honda's hands.

"HEY!" Honda exclaimed incredulously, "I haven't tested it yet!"

But Yugi wasn't paying attention to his friend's complaints. He prepared the lens and aimed right in front of him.

"HELP ME!" the lady screamed in horror.

"Shut up bitch!" the thief barked, and then aimed his pistol at her forehead. "In fact, shut up permanently!" And then he pulled the trigger. The poor woman was silenced instantly, blood spattering everywhere from a fatal wound. The murderous thief yanked the jewels from her neck as she fell lifelessly to the ground, and then shot her two more times in the head.

"MYSTIQUE HAS BEEN SHOT!" screamed someone from the crowd. The bystanders were so terrified of what they had witnessed that they did nothing as the murderous thief fled to a getaway car and started driving away with his ill-gotten gain. As they passed by the young reporters, Atem, in a determined rage, sped toward the car.

"ATEM!" Yugi exclaimed in shock, and before he even got a chance to stop his brother, Atem leapt high, landing himself on the very back of the getaway car and hanging on tight. The murderous thief spun around and glared from behind the mask, incensed that an unexpected 'passenger' was hanging on for dear life on the back of his car, trying to be a hero. Atem could only get a glimpse at the blue eyes staring menacingly at him before the thief suddenly spun the wheel. The car swerved to the left, then to the right. Already the elder twin was beginning to slip. When the car swerved to the left again, he lost his grip completely. Screaming, he flew off the car and crashed onto the ground. The murderous thief then stepped hard on the pedal and sped away before anything else would try to interfere.

"ATEM!" Jonouchi shouted as he and the others rushed over. "You all right buddy?" Atem sat up, bruised but otherwise unharmed. But he was gritting his teeth. He was very furious now… but this time at himself.

"DAMN IT!" he bellowed, slamming a fist into the ground. "We lost them!"

"Not quite." Yugi replied with a smirk. Atem spun around in confusion, and in response the younger twin lifted up the old camera. "It seems this old thing is still working after all!"

Realizing exactly what he meant, Atem smiled.

Note: Now here's the first of the many twists that make this fic so different! I didn't want it to be just mere thievery after all! In any case, the stage is set! Our story goes into full swing in the next chapter! And as I always say, Until Next Time!


	2. To Top a Top Story

Note: Hi again! Here's the next chapter that I've finished for this fic! Up to this point I've written most of the chapters a while back, and that's why I'm able to update so quickly. Perhaps this might give me time to work on my latest chapter while keeping you posted. Anyway, this is where the story begins, when a top story for the newspaper and blog, Tokyo Nendaiki (Or Tokyo Chronicle as they call it in Japan) are circulated throughout the world... and a new assignment is set up. How? Read and see for yourself! Enjoy!

Chapter 1: To Top a Top Story

Two days later, a round man in his mid-fifties, Mr. Tanaka, put down the newspaper displaying the latest article, which contained Yugi's colored photo of the murderous thief pointing his gun at the lady now revealed to be a famous fashion designer known only as Mystique. He grinned at his four favorite employees, which consisted of Atem, Yugi, Jonouchi and Honda. The editor of Tokyo Nendaiki laughed cheerfully, "Ha, ha, ha ,ha! I don't know how you do it… but as always, you guys are **FANTASTIC**!" The foursome grinned for a job well done as their boss continued, "If it were those other idiots in the staff doing your job, they'd actually miss out on a story like this, even if it was right under their noses and biting them on the butt!"

"Come to think of it, we'd miss out on it too if we weren't with the Mutou brothers." Honda murmured to the sandy blonde.

"Shut up Honda." Jonouchi whispered. The twins groaned, already annoyed by their employer's disregard for the rest of the staff.

"Would you tell us again why we're the best men for the job?" Atem grunted.

"Why?" Mr. Tanaka repeated, "WHY?" He stood up and replied enthusiastically, "Oh, I'll do more than tell you why! I'll SHOW you!" He then proceeded to pile his desk with some newspapers belonging to rival businesses. "Take a look at these headlines!" He picked one up and, putting it on full display, he read aloud, "_**Deadly Jewel Heist on Ginza**_. Notice the bold-state printing!"

"Yeah Boss, we know!" Jonouchi replied, "That means it's big news."

"Yeah, why else would it be so easy to read?" Honda added, only to be elbowed by Yugi.

"That's beside the point." He murmured through gritted teeth.

"Moving right along!" Mr. Tanaka continued, happily picking up another newspaper. "_**Mystique's Jewels Stolen—Straight From Her Corpse!**_ So says the folks of the Kyoto Post." He then grabs a newspaper from a third rival company. "_**Fashion Nobility of New York City Robbed and Murdered!**_" The editor chuckled in anticipation, picking up the paper with Yugi's article. "And last, but not least, the icing on the cake!" He proceeded to read the headline, "_**Mysterious Jewel Thief: Armed, Dangerous and At Large!**_" He held up the newspaper like it was a first-place trophy. "Now listen well! Out of all these papers, this is the one that's flying right off the shelves in just two days!"

"How do you know they're not just getting it for the comics?" Jonouchi asked.

"Every newspaper has comics Jonouchi." Atem replied.

"And it's not just the papers!" Mr. Tanaka continued, "Check out the blog!" He proceeds to show his employees the website displaying the same article. "See how many hits we got? Over 9000 an hour! This is our greatest story yet!"

Atem smirked. "I figured this would please you. So I guess this would be a good time to talk about a promotion."

The editor had a perplexed expression on his face. "A… promotion you say? Oh… I never heard you talking about a promotion… I assumed that you didn't want one."

"What?" Atem gasped incredulously.

"But since you did mention it…" Mr. Tanaka interrupted, "Well… as of the moment we don't have the budget to give you and your buddies a promotion. But I'll give you guys something just as good: a raise!" He sat down on his chair. "500 yen."

"500 YEN?" Yugi exclaimed in shock. His brother and their friends were equally appalled.

"Did I say 500?" Mr. Tanaka stated, "I meant 1000 yen."

But that did nothing to ease the tension. "That's still not enough to pay for our college tuition!" Jonouchi complained.

"You think?" Honda blurted to his friend, "It's not even enough to pay for our rent!"

At this moment, the elder twin was seething with fury. Their boss had always been an obnoxious sort of airhead, but this? This is the last straw! "THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!" He bellowed, slamming his hands on the desk. The other staff members spun around at the sudden commotion, even taking the editor by surprise. And Honda?

"AAAAH!" He screamed in horror and jumped high enough to grab onto an unused ceiling fan.

"That was NOT necessary, Honda!" Yugi shouted to his photographer friend.

Atem returned his attention to his bumbling boss. "We've worked our asses off every day to get a top story like this, and THIS is how you thank us?"

Mr. Tanaka proved to be rather oblivious to the anger of his favorite employee. "Hey, hey! Don't get too excited there! You four are the cream of the crop, the best of the best! Especially you and your twin brother! You have a knack for being at the right place at the right time, and besides I really like you! Otherwise I wouldn't have hired you in the first place!"

Now it was the younger twin who got furious. "Oh really? The only other reason you hired us is that you just so happened to be friends with our grandfather!"

"Ah yes! Good old Sugoroku Mutou!" Mr. Tanaka replied wistfully, picking up a framed photo. It depicted himself with an old man in overalls that shared the same hairstyle as the twins, but held down by a bandana. He also sported a thick gray mustache and beard, smirking and holding his hand up in a 'V' sign. "He always spoke highly of you two boys." The editor explained to the twins, "And for good reason at that, seeing how you do some excellent work-"

"ENOUGH WITH THE EMPTY PRAISES!" Atem interrupted in fury. The boss was truly shaken now.

"B-but, Atem, it's the truth! If you would just listen-"

"NO! YOU LISTEN!"—the elder twin leaned forward—"You always say that we are the best men to do the job, the most talented teenage prodigies out of all those who work in this business. Yet from what your actions are telling us, we're no different than the so-called 'idiots' who make up a part of the staff! If you truly appreciate us for what we have done for the Tokyo Nendaiki, if you truly respect us like you claim you do, then PROVE IT BY TREATING US WITH THE RESPECT THAT WE DESERVE! Otherwise, I for one will have no choice but to disappoint our grandfather by saying these exact two words." He slammed some papers down on the desk and roared as loud as he could: "I QUIT!"

Mr. Tanaka stared blankly at the elder twin as he turned to leave. "Heh heh heh. You're kidding, right? You've just got to be kidding, right?" Atem gave no reply, and it was only then that the editor was beginning to panic. He turned to the younger twin. "Y-Yugi! Talk some sense into your brother, would ya?"

"Sorry 'Boss'!" Yugi snapped, turning to walk away, "But if Atem goes, I go!"

"Same with me!" Jonouchi replied with venom in his voice joining with his friend.

"And me!" Honda shouted from the ceiling. And he let go of the fan, dropping to the floor. Groaning in pain since he landed on his butt, he nevertheless rose to leave as well.

"H-hey, wait! Y-y-you can't quit!" Mr. Tanaka pleaded, rising up to chase after the four friends, "We need you! Without you the Tokyo Nendaiki would go kaput!"

"Then maybe you should think twice before making a hypocrite of yourself!" Atem barked.

Now the editor was desperate. "O-okay, I'll tell you what! This article, it's a great story, the greatest yet! But if you can top that story, I promise to give you that promotion!"

The four friends stopped in their tracks and spun around in surprise. "You… promise?" Atem asked.

"Of course! I promise!" Mr. Tanaka replied, lifting his hands up, "Cross my heart, hope to die! And notice I don't have my hands behind my back with my fingers crossed to say otherwise!" he slumped on his knees, teary-eyed. "J-just please! PLEASE!" he cried pitifully, "Don't leave the Tokyo Nendaiki! I beg you!"

"You know, this is the first time we heard him promise anything." Jonouchi murmured to Atem.

"Perhaps now he's getting the message." Honda guessed. Atem turned toward his younger brother, who nodded.

"All right." Atem replied to the boss, "We'll give you the benefit of a doubt and accept your assignment. But we expect you to keep your end of the deal."

"Oh thank you! Thank you!" Mr. Tanaka sighed in relief, standing up, "Now go out there and knock some socks off!" And with that, he walked back to his office. Already the foursome can hear their employer mumbling. "I need to make their raise higher. I owe them that much… Let's see, 10,000 yen? No, 50,000! No, that's still not enough. 500,000. Yeah, that's a good start!" The door shut before any more could be heard.

"All right! Way to show the boss who's boss!" Jonouchi praised.

"Yeah, you were great Big Brother!" Yugi stated.

"Now all we need to do is top our current top story and it'll be smooth sailing!" Honda noted, "But how do we go about doing that?"

Atem chuckled, taking out one of the papers and setting it on an empty desk. "I've already got a plan in mind." The others surrounded him, eager to hear what he had to say. "According to the article about our thief, it appears that the main targets are famous fashion designers like Mystique. Rumors are going around that their next target is another famous fashion designer that is going to make her first public debut, one Lady Valentine. Not much is known of her as of yet, but it so happens that she and Mystique were friends in the fashion industry."

"Sounds fascinating." Jonouchi replied, "But what does that have to do with topping our top story?"

"It's simple." Atem replied with a smirk, "We head over to America, specifically New York City, and we do an interview about the robbery and murder with Lady Valentine herself. Hopefully she'll provide us with some information, like possible suspects. What we need is a story that will spur the reader into action and do whatever it takes to help put that criminal to justice!"

"But what if that doesn't work?" Yugi asked in concern.

Atem paused before he answered, "If we have to, Little Brother, we'll find that murderous thief and take them down ourselves!"

"Then count me in!" Yugi replied enthusiastically.

"I'm in too!" Jonouchi replied.

"I'm ready to kick some ass!" Honda added.

"All right then!" Atem rallied, "Let's head over to New York City!" Again, the four friends started making their departure.

"But wait, how are we going to get to America?" Yugi suddenly stated.

"Yeah, and shouldn't we pack up our luggage before we split?" Honda asked.

"And how are we gonna to pay for our trip?" Jonouchi added.

Again, Atem smirked. "Don't worry about that. My brother and I have some connections."

Jonouchi and Honda blanched when they realized exactly what the elder twin meant. "Oh NO!" Jonouchi groaned, "Not that Rich Boy cousin of yours!"

"That's right Jonouchi." Atem confirmed, "That 'Rich Boy' cousin of ours." He took out an I-Phone and started dialing.

"I agree that Seto Kaiba can be a jerk most of the time." Yugi replied, "But he's always there when we need him."

Finally, A young man with neatly-combed brown hair and icy blue eyes appeared on the I-Phone screen. "Kaiba? It's me, Atem, your cousin."

"Oh, it's you." The young man, Kaiba, replied bluntly. "What do you want this time?"

"My brother and I have a favor to ask of you." Atem began.

As the four reporters left, one of the staff members yelled out at the top of his lungs, "STOP THE PRESSES!"

Mr. Tanaka bolted out of his office, growing frustrated. "All right, what is it now?" he barked.

The worker just gave a goofy grin. "This just in: Editor of the Tokyo Nendaiki gets OWNED!" And with that, he tossed some steamed rice from his bento box right onto the editor. The whole office broke down with uproarious laughter.

Mr. Tanaka growled. "This is why I prefer the Mutou brothers to the likes of YOU!" And he stomped back into his office, but not before mumbling, "I'll need to double the twins' raise after this." All the while, the laughter of the staff refused to cease.

* * *

The next day, with the help of Kaiba, the four young reporters managed to board a high-class plane heading to America. Unfortunately for them, Kaiba just had to put his twin cousins and their friends in the cheapest class of them all: the dark cargo bay.

"Great! This is the last time I fly in 'Kaiba Airlines'!" Jonouchi grumbled.

"I hear ya." Honda replied, before returning to his handheld video game.

"Well, Kaiba isn't necessarily nice. Helpful, yes, but not always nice." Atem stated. He leaned on the wall and rubbed his arms. "Damn it's cold. It's like 50 degrees in here."

"You're lucky 'Tem." Jonouchi murmured, "You got a nice warm blanket."

"Um, Hello?" Yugi stated, "I'm the one with the nice warm blanket."

"Eh?" Jonouchi replied in confusion.

"J-just turn on the flashlight and see for yourself!" Yugi barked.

The sandy blonde did just that. Sure enough he saw Yugi wrapped up in a red and black quilt blanket. The younger twin glared at his friend in annoyance. "Oh yeah…" Jonouchi stated, sweatdropping as he realized his error. "Sorry Yug, I keep mixing you up with your brother."

Yugi also sweatdropped, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"So what else is new?" Atem mumbled. "I guess I can read a book while I'm up." With that, he turned on his own flashlight. "I sure wish I brought my book of Ancient Egyptian Myths."

"Where's the call button for the stewardess?" Jonouchi asked. "I'm getting hungry."

"They don't serve food here in 'ninth class' Jonouchi!" Yugi reminded.

"DAMN IT!" Jonouchi barked, "This is just another reason why I hate Kaiba!"

"Well at least you guys don't have to sit around in a box!" a voice suddenly piped up. Surprised, Atem pointed his flashlight to the source. There were two young men jammed together inside a wooden crate, complete with a barred 'window'. One had a bowl haircut, blue-green in color, and crafty eyes peering from behind a pair of thick yellow glasses. He wore a yellow-green jacket and a tacky pair of dark yellow shorts, along with off-white socks and sneakers.

The second had messy brown shoulder length hair with lavender bangs sticking out from under a red wool hat, but not enough to cover his wide beady eyes. He wore a yellow T-shirt with a green jacket and brown pants, complete with red sneakers.

Both were seated cross-legged, shivering from the cold.

"Who are you?" Atem asked.

"Just a couple of stowaways on our way to New York City." Replied the young man in glasses.

"He's Haga," the young man with the red wool hat introduced, "And I'm Ryuzaki."

"They don't have to know our names." Barked the young man in glasses, Haga.

"Oh quit complaining! These guys are in the luggage pile with us!" Ryuzaki barked back.

"So why are you going through all this effort just to get to America?" Yugi finally asked.

The two boys in the boxes sported goofy grins and pink cheeks. "Hee hee hee! New York City Fashion Week of course!" Haga answered, "It's the best time to go see beautiful girls!"

"Yeah! Especially the famous Valentine models!" Ryuzaki added, "They're the sexiest ladies in the world! And although no one has seen Lady Valentine in public yet, it's a well-known fact that she's just as gorgeous!"

"Looks like we got couple of perverts." Yugi whispered to his elder brother.

Atem nodded in agreement. "It's funny you mentioned Lady Valentine. We're actually planning to meet her."

"REALLY?" Haga and Ryuzaki exclaimed simultaneously.

"Would you quiet down?" Honda barked, looking up from his video game. "I'm trying to concentrate! This game's not easy to beat you know!"

Right at that moment, everyone heard footsteps approaching the cargo door. "Hey! Someone's coming!" Jonouchi announced. "Maybe they got some grub!"

The cargo doors opened and out stepped a young attendant with a cheerful demeanor. "What's up boys? All out for America!"

"Finally!" Atem sighed in relief, "I thought this plane is never going to land!"

"The plane?" the attendant asked, then proceeded to open the cargo bay's side door. "Nah, the plane lands in England! YOU land in America!"

"Aw man! I should have seen that coming!" Jonouchi whimpered, putting on his parachute. "Guess it's too late to complain!" The attendant quickly grabbed the sandy blonde and tossed him out. "YUUUUUGIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Honda turned off his game, and quickly put on his parachute. "Geez! Nobody told us we're going skydiving!" And with that, he quickly jumped off after his friend.

"Let's go Yugi!" Atem urged on as he prepared for the jump.

"I'm not jumping!" Yugi stated.

"Why not?"

"It's so high up! I'm not used to doing something like this! I don't want to do this!"

"Yugi, we have to jump! The plane's not gonna land anytime soon! Don't worry. Everything will be fine!"

"I WILL NOT JUMP OUT OF THE PLANE!" Yugi stated, "And if you want me to jump, you're gonna have to make me!"

Atem growled in frustration. "All right, I will!" With quick hands he snatched a certain object out of his brother's pocket. It was a deck of cards, wrapped together with a rubber band. But they were no ordinary playing cards."Hey!" Yugi exclaimed, "Gimme back my Duel Monsters deck!"

"You want it Yugi?" Atem asked, holding the deck high in the air, "You want it?"

"Yeah!" Yugi shouted. Atem spoke not a single word—but tossed Yugi's precious deck right out of the plane! "GAAAAAAH! MY CARDS!" screamed the younger twin in a panic, and he grabbed hold of his parachute and leapt out.

"Sorry Little Brother, but I had to do it." Atem stated. And with a running start, he too jumped out of the plane. "RAAAAGH!"

"That was fun." Ryuzaki stated. "Now all that needs to be done is to toss out the luggage." Then suddenly he and Haga grew wide-eyed as they realized something.

"Uh oh…" Haga gulped. And they both yelped the same thing.

"We're part of the luggage!"

* * *

On the ground, an old man, Professor Hawkins, was sitting at a bench reading a book, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere of the nearby lake. Little did he realize that the peace wasn't going to last long.

"BAAAANZAAAAAAAAAAAAI!"

"Hm?" Hawkins looked up from his book to see Jonouchi floating downward.

"WHOA!" Jonouchi hollered, trying to steer his parachute. But it was no good. He made a landing straight into the lake.

"WATCH OUT JONOUCHI!" Honda hollered from above. Then he splashed down. Not long afterward the twins came into view. Yugi managed to grab a hold of his Duel Monster deck in mid-air, and he guided himself down near the shore.

"Hey! That was actually fun!" he stated with a smile.

His elder brother was not so lucky: he, too, plunged into the lake with the rest of his friends.

As three of the four young reporters struggled their way toward the shore, Hawkins let out a hearty laugh. "The weather forecast was right for once! Here I am sitting outside, and it's raining cats and dogs!"

Atem sputtered as he climbed out of the water. "Actually, it's raining men."

"No pun intended!" Honda added.

Suddenly there were some more ear-piercing screams. The four young reporters turned around just in time to see their luggage splashing in the middle of the lake—and finally a crate containing a certain pair of stowaways.

"Ow!" Ryuzaki yelled from within, "Get your butt off of my face!"

"Get you face off of my butt!" Haga yelled likewise.

Again, Hawkins just chuckled. "Well, no matter who you are, welcome to the United States!"

"Guys! You hear that?" Yugi called out. "We're in the United States!"

"Aw man!" Jonouchi groaned, "Now how are we gonna get to America?"

"We are in America!" Atem explained, "The United States is a more formal name for this country."

"Yes," Hawkins replied, "But no matter what you call it, it's the land of the free, home of the brave!"

"Well, now that we're here, we're going to need a place to stay. And knowing Kaiba, it's unlikely he'll let us share his room in the hotel he stays in." Atem noted, "Sir, do you have any recommendations for a decent New York City hotel?"

"Of course!" Hawkins replied, "But it depends on how much money you have."

Atem looked into his wallet and cursed.

"What's wrong Atem?" Honda asked.

The elder twin held up his money. "We forgot to convert our yen into dollars!" The other three face faulted.

"So I take it you'd like a hotel that lets you stay in for free?" Hawkins asked.

"Yes…" Atem groaned in embarrassment.

"Very well then." And the old professor took out a laptop, typing 'New York City: free hotels' in the search engine. After scanning the monitor for a while, he sighed. "I'm sorry, but there's only one free hotel in all of New York City."

"Well, it's better than camping at bus terminals and river banks." Atem reasoned, "What is it called?"

"Oh, it goes by the name of Motel Joy." Hawkins explained. "It's run by a charity organization, and although the building is pretty shabby, it has an excellent reputation for good hospitality. Not surprisingly, it often serves as the perfect shelter for the poor and the homeless."

"Very well, we'll take that!" Atem stated, "Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks!" Jonouchi replied with a smile. In fact, all the young reporters were unanimous on the decision.

"My pleasure!" Hawkins stated.

"Hey you!" Haga shouted from the center of the lake once, "A little help here? Not everyone in this box can swim you know!"

"What do you think Big Brother?" Yugi asked with a mischievous smirk.

Atem smirked likewise, figuring out what his brother meant. He turned toward the stranded stowaways. "Okay, we'll get you to shore—but only under one condition!"

Note: And so begins their trip in America! In the next chapter, our heroes arrive at this tale's version of Happiness Hotel, Motel Joy. Who will they encounter in their first day there? Until Next Time!


	3. New Friends in Motel Joy

Note: Hi! Here's yet another finished chapter of the Great Duel Monster Caper, where once again, my OCs in the rock band Shining Nova take part as the guest stars!

_**Slifer Inferno: Sweet! We get to be in another fic!**_

_**Nautilus Tide: I suppose this is where I get to show of another kind of singing talent. After all, I usually do rock.**_

_**Coral Mist: And this is also our chance to display pieces of our ballroom skill! But I guess I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.**_

_**Emeraude Saber: You know, we get to play the part of the residential rock band. I wonder why?**_

_**Obelisk Prime: It's obvious isn't it? We're an awesome rock band even outside this fic! My only complaint is the background info that we got in this fic. It's not our real info.**_

_**Slifer: Obelisk, the authoress does that so we can fit into some of her fics. But don't worry, she puts in some clear constants about us, like the information about my mom for example.  
**_

_**Nautilus: And the fact that my birth family was killed, leaving me an orphan and the last of my line.  
**_

_**Emeraude: And lets not forget our roles in the band!  
**_

_**Obelisk: Dude... I guess you got a point there. This is an AU fanfic after all.  
**_

Can I get on with introducing the fic now?

_**Slifer: Whoops, sorry! Carry on!**_

Thank you. Anyway, our heroes arrive at Motel Joy. There will be a couple of songs in this fic, one of which is not part of the movie and two whose lyrics are rearranged to fit the plotline in this version of the story. The main song in this chapter is a minor parody done to the tune of Buzzcock's "What Do I Get", which I do not own (Glad I got that disclaimer out of the way). And if you look very carefully there's also a little reference tune to the Happiness Hotel song done in the actual movie, done as part of a humorous improv game. Well, that's all for the explanation! Enjoy the story!

Chapter 2: New Friends in Motel Joy

Later that day, far outside a certain city, Mahaad and Mana were sitting on a hill overlooking the scenery. "Wow!" Mana gasped in amazement, "Who'd have thought New York City was such a big place!"

"I'm sure our heroes will agree with you." Mahaad replied.

"So how are they going to get here, Master?" Mana asked. "What's going to happen next?"

The Dark Magician chuckled. "You'll see. They're in that bus right over there!"

* * *

With Hawkins' help, the four young reporters were able to take a bus, along with the airplane stowaways Haga and Ryuzaki. The latter grumbled at the fact that in exchange for being helped out of the lake, they had to handle the luggage of the former. It wasn't long before they all caught sight of their intended destination.

"Here we are everyone!" Atem announced, "New York City!"

"Yeah! We made it!" Yugi cheered. The twins and their friends wasted no time doing some sightseeing. Even Haga and Ryuzaki joined in, their burden momentarily forgotten.

"Hey! That's the Statue of Liberty, isn't it?" Jonouchi stated, pointing to said Statue.

"Whoa! It looks huge!" Honda gasped, "I bet it's even bigger up close!"

"Are there any fountains here?" Haga asked.

"I don't know." Atem admitted. "Why do you ask?"

"I need a bath to wash off the smell of the lake."

"I don't think the people of this city would let ya." Ryuzaki noted.

As the bus made an entrance to Manhattan, they all took a closer look at the surrounding area. "Hey Big Brother!" Yugi gasped excitedly, "I can see Bryant Park from here!"

"Whoa! That's the place to go for New York City Fashion Week!" Ryuzaki noted, all the while drooling at the thought of seeing the models.

"Hey! What do you call this place?" Jonouchi asked, pointing in the direction of a statue depicting a man holding a wire globe.

"According to the GPS on my I-Phone, this must be the world famous Rockefeller Center." Atem explained. "It's especially popular in wintertime. Of course, it's early summer right now."

"Yeah, it's too bad." Jonouchi noted, "I'd like to see that ice rink they got there."

"I don't care." Honda replied, taking out the old paparazzi camera. "It's very impressive as it is! I'm gonna take a photo just for the fun of it." The old bulb flashed as the camera took its picture, much to the photographer's relief.

"Hey!" Ryuzaki piped up, "I think you got my elbow in the shot!"

"Oh, so I did!" Honda stated, sweatdropping as he stared at the camera, "I guess it's not such a bad photo; it's not enough to cover the subject, and it actually adds human interest."

Ryuzaki blinked. "You got a good point."

Right at that moment the bus driver called out behind him. "Is there anyone off to Motel Joy?"

"Hey! That's us!" Yugi stated to his friends.

"Wow! Now that was fast! Let get on it!" Jonouchi added.

""Yes, we're going to Motel Joy!" Atem replied to the bus driver.

"Oh no!" Haga complained, "Here we go again!"

"Back to work!" Ryuzaki mumbled likewise as he and the bug boy lifted the luggage in their arms.

Upon arriving at a street somewhere near the Manhattan slums, the bus ground to a halt, opening the door to let out the four reporters. "You guys will be a big help for the Helping Hands Foundation." The bus driver stated happily, "That's the charity organization that makes up the staff of this place."

"Arigato." Atem replied as he stepped out, "Thank you."

"We'll do our best." Yugi added, following his brother. Jonouchi and Honda left not long after. Just as Haga and Ryuzaki waddled to the door, their hands full of luggage, it slammed shut right on them!

"Wha-?" they both exclaimed before the bus started moving again.

"HEY!" Haga blurted, "WHAT ABOUT US?"

"YEAH!" Ryuzaki protested, "WE STILL GOT THEIR LUGGAGE!"

At that, the bus door opened again… but tossed the two boys out with the suitcases! "YAAAAAAAAAH!" they screamed as they flew unceremoniously to the ground. And the four young reporter were watching the whole thing, wincing.

"Oy… I'm glad I'm not those guys." Jonouchi muttered.

"That makes four of us." Honda agreed. Nevertheless the four of them gathered up their suitcases.

"Thanks guys. We'll take it from here." Yugi stated. And they continued their way, leaving the obnoxious pair lying on the ground, swirls in their eyes.

"Great." Ryuzaki mumbled, "Ever since we met up with those guys, it's one crash landing after another."

Haga chuckled even in his dazed state. "Yeah… but it's worth it!" Then they both chuckled as the thoughts of beautiful, scantily clad women filled their heads.

Meanwhile, the twins and their friends were standing in front of an old building. It appeared to be undergoing some renovations on a few parts of the wall, but the deteriorating age of the bricks and wood was clearly obvious. Nearby was a sign stating the name of the place. "So this is Motel Joy." Atem mused.

"Whoa. Hawkins wasn't kidding when he said it looked shabby." Yugi noted, "But he never said it looked that shabby!"

"For a hotel that's called Motel Joy, it looks awfully sad." Honda stated.

"Well, we won't know until we go inside." Jonouchi replied, and the foursome approached the doors. Atem knocked once, then pushed the doors open. The inside was no less shabby than the outside. In fact, it was a bit of a mess. There were crumbling walls, broken electronics and even the furniture was in need of repairs. "Looks like this place has seen better days." Jonouchi noted.

"At least some work is being done to fix it." Yugi replied, pointing to the many places where there was work in progress. But the surroundings became less of a focus as they saw two men in the lobby. One was a slim androgynous figure, turquoise eyes and short magenta red hair. He wore a light violet tank top, a pair of blue jeans and black biker boots. He sat behind the desk.

The second man was more statuesque, whose short golden hair seemed to be swept back by the wind. The sideburns stood on end upon his cheeks. He donned a gray tank top, baggy pants and thick boots, giving the young reporters an impression that he was an army man. He was busy stacking a large box upon the top shelf. When that was done, the man wiped the sweat off his brow, his blue-gray eyes expressing satisfaction. "Whew! That takes care of that load." It was then he took notice of the heroes. "Hey, Amelda!" he stated to his androgynous companion, "Looks like we got some new visitors!"

"Really?" Amelda replied, "Oh! Thanks Raphael." He straightened himself up on his desk, facing the visitors in question. "Hello, and welcome to Motel Joy. Is there anything we can do to help you?"

"Yes," Atem answered, "We'd like to have a room."

Amelda and the military man, Raphael, stared at the four friends in astonishment. "Seriously?" Raphael asked.

"Of course. We like to check in." Atem replied, making his intention clear.

After what seemed to be an eternity of surprise, the two men were smiling. "That's great!" Raphael exclaimed in excitement.

Amelda went about ringing the bell. "Hey everyone!" At the sound, some hotel workers came to the scene, along with a great number of residents.

"What's going on?"

"Someone new is checking in!" Amelda announced.

The people's eyes lit up at the news.

"Really?"

"Awesome!"

"We've got no time to waste!"

"Let's tidy up!"

Right before the eyes of the four young reporters, everyone in the Motel was getting ready to welcome them in, all filled with genuine enthusiasm.

"Whoa!" Honda gasped, "In spite of the surroundings they've all got a positive attitude!" He and his friends proceeded to put down their luggage.

"That's how the Helping Hands Foundation does its work." Raphael explained, "This branch in particular provides food and shelter to the homeless and a sense of comfort to any guest that stays over, thereby bringing hope to the hopeless. Anyway, how would you like to set the payment?"

"Um, I don't know." Atem admitted, "What are the choices?"

"Well, we take cash, checks and credit cards." Amelda answered, "But no matter the method, half the overall total goes to the Helping Hands charity fund."

"…Yes, about that." Atem stated, taking the yen out of his wallet, "We're from Japan, and we forgot to convert our yen into dollars, so we're broke. That's why we came here in the first place."

"Oh, is that so?" Amelda replied, "Well, fortunately for you, there's always a fourth option."

"And that would be…?" Yugi asked.

"Sneaking out in the middle of the night." Raphael replied, "It's a very popular choice for the desperately poor."

"In that case, err uh… we'll take that fourth option." Jonouchi stated.

"All right then," Amelda noted, "Your room is on the second floor. Just set down your luggage and the bellhops will take care of the rest."

"Kuri-kuri!" a tiny voice echoed in the lobby.

"Ah, here they come now!" Raphael stated, and as the four heroes looked on, five small balls of fur bounced toward them, each with four stubby green legs and wide eyes. Each wore on top of their 'heads' the iconic red cylindrical caps worn by bellhops. The four heroes blinked in bewilderment.

"Um, no offense," Yugi stated, "but your bellhops look a lot like Kuribohs."

"Cute little buggers, aren't they?" Raphael replied, "And if that doesn't get you, wait until you meet the chambermaids!" The five Kuribohs in question proceeded to lift the suitcases and carry them like ants toward the stairs.

"Forgive us for having you climb the stairs like this, but our elevator isn't exactly in working condition." Explained Amelda.

"No, it's fine." Honda answered. "Thanks for letting us stay."

"No problem."

The four young reporters proceeded to follow the Kuriboh bellhops up the stairs. And the twins in particular had to admit, very sight of these little creatures trying to carry their heavy suitcases over such an obstacle was very comical.

* * *

Once on the second floor, they were traveling down the hall when suddenly they heard voices coming from behind one of the doors.

"Listen guys!" Yugi stated. And listen they did.

"_**Okay, the lobby's looking shabby and it's got the wrong address!**_

_**And the whole damn thing has been condemned by… American Express!**_"

There was much laughter that followed.

"Hey! I'm not done yet!"

"Whoever's back there sure is having fun." Jonouchi noted. Atem decided to make his approach and open the door. Inside, they found five individuals, three male and two female.

One of the men had crimson red eyes and hair that was straight on the front and spiky on the back, the length of which reached the shoulders. The color of the hair was rather interesting. On the front, it was red on the right and black on the left, but on the back it was the other way around. He wore a black T-shirt with a red leather vest, dark gray pants and black studded boots, giving him the look of a punk rocker. Apparently, he was the one entertaining his buddies by singing a humorous verse.

"_**Still the management is cheerful, though the whole joint's gone to hell!**_

_**Well, welcome home to Happiness Hotel!**_"

The others laughed and applauded. A stocky man patted the punk roughly on the back. He had violet eyes and short blonde hair with an extreme cowlick, and a strip of hair that made up the goatee on his chin. He wore a yellow T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, along with gold colored sneakers. "Ha ha ha! That's a good one Slifer!" the man laughed.

"Hello there!" Atem called out, grabbing the attention of the punk, Slifer, and the rest of his companions.

"Hey! We got some new faces!" exclaimed one of the women excitedly. She had long dark green hair, and green eyes, and she wore a brown tube top with a black leather vest, along with a short plaid skirt, black and green striped stockings and gray jungle boots.

The third young man stepped forward. He had dark tan skin, with handsome features that hinted that he was of a mixed racial heritage… namely, an Afro-Asian. His long blue hair reached his hips, while sky blue eyes danced with a serene light. He wore a white tank top and a light blue cotton jacket with sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He also had blue jeans, but he wore a pair of thick-soled sandals that showed off his elegant toes. "Hey, what's up!" he greeted in a captivating voice, reaching out a hand, "Nice to meet you! I'm Nautilus."

"Pleasure to meet you too Nautilus!" Atem replied, shaking Nautilus' hand, "My name is Atem Mutou." He then pointed to his own friends. "This is my twin brother Yugi, and our friends Jonouchi Katsuya and Honda Hiroto. We're staying here as guests in Motel Joy."

"That's excellent!" Nautilus stated, "It's always nice to see fresh faces once in a while. Come in and make yourselves at home!"

Yugi looked around the room where the other group was staying. "Hey, do you guys live here?"

"Yeah," Slifer replied, "When times got hard, this place really helped us out. We used to live out in the alley around the slums."

"Really?" Honda gasped.

"It's definitely not a good place to live." Added the girl in green, Emeraude by name, "I mean, it's where you usually find garbage, dangerous street gangs and worst of all… drug dealers. In fact, Slifer's mom used to be a drug addict."

"But Nautilus in particular had it especially rough." Stated the stocky man, Obelisk. "And that was long before we even met him!"

"Is that true?" Jonouchi asked.

Nautilus sadly nodded. "I grew up alone in the projects; my whole family was killed in the midst of a gangster turf war when I was a small child, and I ran away from foster care after spending just three days there in living hell. It was a very dangerous life I had to live, but I had nowhere to go, and I had no one to turn to." The smile that returned on his face was that of gratitude. "If it weren't for the Helping Hands Foundation and Motel Joy, I wouldn't even be standing here today. Here at last is a place where I can live my life and pursue my dreams without constant fear!"

"And the same is for the rest of us!" added the second girl, Coral, stepping by Nautilus' side and giving him a hug. She was an African American with deep blue eyes and long wavy turquoise hair, wearing a white cotton shirt that exposed her shoulders, blue jeans and a pair of platform shoes. "In each other, we found kindred spirits, and from the moment we met we have formed a very strong bond."

Atem gasped, "Now I see how Motel Joy got its name! It's more than just a shelter, it's a sanctuary that truly does restore lost hope!"

Nautilus chuckled. "Nowadays we do our best to help out the Helping Hands, and that includes doing some volunteer work. In between that, we raise funds in another way that also lets us follow our dreams. Having musical backgrounds, my friends and I formed a rock band, and on the side I do some contemporary R&B with Coral Chan."

"He's a very talented singer." Coral stated with a wink.

"Hey, Slifer can sing too!" Emeraude shouted as she picked up an electric bass, "He just prefers to rock it out on his electric guitar!"

Slifer lifted up said electric guitar and began tuning it. "I'm not that much of a talented singer Emeraude! The ones I'm good at are from punk rock, and we are a mixed metal band. That's why Nautilus is our front man when he's not doing R&B."

Obelisk proceeded to do some experimental taps on his drum set.

"Cool!" Yugi replied, "Can you show us a sample of your talent?"

"Sure Dude!" Obelisk answered with a smile and turned toward his punk friend. "What song do you wanna do?"

Slifer strummed his V guitar. "Hmm, I don't know. How about… this!" And he shredded a few notes. Figuring it out, Emeraude and Obelisk joined in, and Slifer began his song.

"_**If I don't have a lover unlike any other**_

_**What will I get?**_

_**If I don't have a friend who will love to the end**_

_**What will I get?**_

"_**What will I get?**_

_**Who-o-oa what will I get?**_

_**What will I get?**_

_**Who-o-oa what will I get?**_

"_**Without a caress when I'm in distress**_

_**What will I get?**_

_**And without a break when I'm not on the make**_

_**What will I get?**_

"_**What will I get?**_

_**Who-o-oa what will I get?**_

_**What will I get?**_

_**Who-o-oa what will I get?**_

"_**I'll only get sleepless nights**_

_**Alone out there in my concrete bed!**_

_**And things would never turn out right;**_

_**My dream would only crumble into dust instead!**_

"_**What will I get?**_

_**Who-o-oa what will I get?**_

_**What will I get?**_

_**Who-o-oa what will I get?**_"

When Slifer started on his guitar solo, the new guests couldn't help but be impressed with his skill. Then the guitarist went on to his refrain.

"_**I'll only get sleepless nights**_

_**Alone out there in my concrete bed!**_

_**And things would never turn out right;**_

_**My dream would only crumble into dust instead!**_

"_**What will I get?**_

_**Who-o-oa what will I get?**_

_**What will I get?**_

_**Who-o-oa what will I get?**_

"_**If I don't have a lover unlike any other**_

_**What will I get?**_

_**If I don't have friend who will love to the end**_

_**What will I get?**_

"_**What will I get?**_

_**Who-o-oa what will I get?**_

_**What will I get?**_

_**Who-o-oa what will I get?**_

"_**Well let me tell you now!**_"

As the song got down to the wire, Emeraude and Obelisk joined in with the vocals.

(_**What will I get?**_)

(_**What will I get?**_)

(_**What will I get?**_)

"_**No love!**_"

(_**What will I get?**_)

"_**No sleep at night!**_"

(_**What will I get?**_)

"_**Nothing that's right!**_"

(_**What will I get?**_)

"_**Nothing at all,**_

_**At all, at all, at all,**_

_**At all, at all, at all,**_

_**If I don't have you!**_"

The four reporters applauded wildly. "That was great you guys!" Honda cheered.

"Yeah you rock!" Jonouchi complimented.

"So what brings you here to Motel Joy?" Nautilus asked the elder Mutou twin.

"Oh! We may not look it, but we're investigative reporters from Japan. We came all the way to New York City to interview a certain fashion designer for our newspaper and blog." Atem explained.

"Sweet!" Slifer stated, "What for?"

"You've heard about what's happened to Mystique, haven't you?"

There was a look of shock on the faces of the band. "Oh… you mean the robbery and murder?" Obelisk asked.

Nautilus sighed as he did the sign of the cross. "God rest her soul!"

"Well that's why we came here." Yugi explained, "We're hoping to get some information from a colleague of hers that will help stop that murderous thief before he or she strikes again."

"You really have a strong sense of justice." Emeraude mused, "We could use more heroes like you."

"True you may be a bit cleaner than the other guests," Coral added, "But I'm sure you'll be right at home here helping out the Helping Hands."

The Afro-Asian vocalist smiled, "Actually, they already fit right in!" He turned to face Atem and Yugi. "I have high hopes that you'll put an end to that mystery thief's rampage with your article. Either way… welcome to Motel Joy!"

"Thank you." Atem replied.

"I'm sure we'll be great friends!" Yugi added.

"I'd say we take a photo as a commemoration!" Honda suggested, taking out his camera.

"That'll be great!" Slifer piped up. Soon the Mutou twins and Jonouchi gathered together with their new friends for a group shot.

"All right! Now this paparazzi camera's very old so I need to make sure it still works okay? Smile!" The bulb on the camera flashed—too brightly.

"AUUUGH!" screamed the subjects of the photo, all rubbing their eyes.

"Yup! It still works!" Honda exclaimed.

"HONDA!" the Mutou brothers roared.

The photographer sweatdropped, realizing what just happened with the flash bulb. "Whoops! My bad!"

* * *

Later that night, after recovering from the flash bulb fiasco, the four young reporters made it to their room. The Kuriboh bellhops placed most of the suitcases onto one of two beds, which were still comfortable in spite of the years. "Thank you. You sure are a big help." Atem replied to the bellhops.

"Wow!" Yugi stated, "This room looks very nice! I owe it to the Helping Hands Foundation; if it were any other hotel, we wouldn't be able to afford something like this!"

Jonouchi opened up his suitcase, taking out some pajama shorts and a T-shirt with a picture of a Red Eyes Black Dragon printed on the front. "I'm getting hungry."

"You can always call room service." Honda suggested.

"Um, there's just one problem." Yugi stated, "There's no hotel phone to call room service with."

A little brown Kuriboh handed a small note to the elder twin before departing. "Apparently, there's no food either." Atem stated, "They've just ran out this evening and they're going to restock tomorrow morning."

"Aw man!" Jonouchi moaned in dismay.

"Look, let's just get ready for bed." Atem noted, "We need to get up early so we can meet up with Lady Valentine and set up the interview."

"Sure." Honda agreed, "I could use some shuteye after the long trip we had today." As he and the others prepared for the night, Atem once again made a call to his cousin.

"Hey Kaiba."

"Oh, hi Cousin." Kaiba greeted bluntly, "I see you made it to America in one piece." His lips curled into a rather sadistic smirk. "So… how were the flight accommodations I set up for you? Heh heh heh."

Atem glared at the face in his I-phone, not very impressed. "Very funny. Anyway, do you know where Lady Valentine usually works?"

"Of course." Kaiba answered, "She just set up a new workplace in Greenwich Village, located near Parsons. I'm actually planning on going there myself tomorrow."

"Probably for reasons tied to your own business. That doesn't surprise me. You're the richest man in nearly half the globe, and you attend the same high school Yugi and I go to."

"It has NOTHING to do with business Atem! True, I've contributed to the funding of this year's New York City Fashion Week, but I'm going there for a personal reason! You see, even though I've never seen Lady Valentine in person, I happen to know one of her models. Her name is Kisara, and she and I go way back…"—Kaiba blushed at the thought—"Look, my point is…I'm going to ask her out on a date."

Atem's eyes widened in surprise. "…Why you lucky son of a bitch! To think you'd finally found yourself a girlfriend!"

Kaiba stuttered, "A-anyway, I'll pick you up and take you to Valentine Fashions where you can get your interview planned out. Where are you staying?"

"Motel Joy." Atem replied.

"What? That dump in the slums?" Kaiba gasped in shock, "How the hell did you get to a place like that?"

"It's not a 'dump' Kaiba! It's run by a charity organization! As to how my friends and I got here, well… we forgot to convert our yen into dollars."

At this moment Kaiba burst out laughing, much to the chagrin of the elder Mutou twin. "Now that's a moment I'll savor! You're even dumber that your friend the Mutt!"

"I RESENT THAT REMARK!" Jonouchi barked in the background, putting on his Red Eyes Black Dragon T-shirt.

"That's not funny Kaiba!" Atem yelled, "At least one good thing came out of that mistake, and that's the fact that we just made some new friends here in this hotel! So when you get here, you owe Motel Joy some large donations!"

"Okay, okay!" Kaiba snickered, "I'll see you tomorrow." Furiously, Atem disconnected the call.

"Yeah Kaiba," he growled as he took out his light blue pajama pants. "You owe this place, big time!" Yugi was already in his own light blue pajamas as his brother went over to change clothes.

"I agree, Big Brother." he stated, "And we'd better see to that!"

Honda and Jonouchi were already in their nightclothes as well, having finished brushing their teeth. "Since there's two beds in this room," Honda noted, "I guess we'll each have to share a bed."

"All right." Stated the younger Mutou twin, "I'll sleep with my brother."

"Good. I'm gonna put a pillow between me and Honda so this whole thing wouldn't feel so uncomfortable." Jonouchi replied. Atem came out shirtless with his light blue pajama pants at that moment.

"Relax, Jonouchi." The elder twin reassured, "A least you're not naked when you're sleeping together."

"You've got a point. But that still doesn't make it any easier on us." Honda muttered.

"Oy," Jonouchi moaned, flopping into a soft bed. "It's moments like this that makes me wish I can get a midnight snack."

"Yeah, me too!" Honda piped up.

"Hey don't worry about eating." Yugi stated as he climbed into the other bed, "We'll have breakfast in the morning. Right now, just be glad we're here."

"You're right!" Honda stated with a smile, "We should be glad about that!" With that, he flopped on the other side of the bed to join Jonouchi. Suddenly, with a warning, that very bed snapped!

"GYAAAAAA!" screamed Jonouchi and Honda, and the bed sprang up and slammed the two of them right into the wall on the opposite side of the twins!

"Ouch…" Jonouchi groaned.

"I'm glad we didn't take that bed!" Yugi muttered. Atem joined his brother immediately.

"Can someone turn off the lights?" he asked. As if on cue, the light bulb in question fell out of its lamp on the ceiling and crashed to the ground. "Uh… thank you. Well, good night!"

"Good night…" Honda managed to reply with strain. And thus the heroes fell into a rather uneventful sleep.

Note: In the next chapter, the identity of Lady Valentine is revealed. After all, our heroes get to meet her! It's just that the meeting gets a little... complicated. If you've watched "The Great Muppet Caper", then you'll be in for a big surprise as to what happens and how!

_**Shining Nova band members: Until Next Time!**_

Hey, that's my line!


	4. The Princess and the Pauper

Note: Hello, here is another update in the Great Duel Monster Caper! It seems that some of you, like SunrisePhoenix, doesn't know much about my OCs.

_**Nautilus Tide: Someone doesn't know about us?**_

_**Coral Mist: Apparently so. (blushes)**_

_**Emeraude Saber: Well, why don't we let the authoress explain?**_

Thank you. My OCs are constantly developing, but if you'd like to get a general idea as to their bios, as well as their developing personalities, you can check them out in my DeviantART page listed in my profile. You can even get an idea as to what they look like too, with my drawing of them in my gallery! With so many ideas in my head though, my Shining Nova rock band is constantly evolving, especially since I got the Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock video game. But enough with my OCs for now, let's get back to the story! This is the chapter where some more characters will be introduced... and it's also the chapter where the romance begins! Especially for Polarshippers and Revolutionshippers! As to how it goes about, you're bound to be surprised with the twist that I've added to this fic! Enjoy!

Chapter 3: The Princess and the Pauper, Fashionista Edition

The next day, at Valentine Fashions, a beautiful woman in her early twenties was on her cell phone as she was finishing up on her latest creations. She had long light blonde hair and violet eyes. She was also wearing a white tube top, and a lavender vest, along with some sleeves not attached to the any of the shirts. A short leather skirt hung around her waist, lavender in color, and she donned a pair of leather high-heeled boots, which were a deeper shade of violet. Her real name is Mai Kujaku, but she was better known by her pen name: Lady Valentine.

"Hello? This is Lady Valentine." She stated on the cell phone, "Who's calling? Oh, Milan! I'll put you on the speaker." Once she made her adjustments, a voice emitted from the speaker in question.

"Am I on?"

"Yes Milan."

"Okay! Anyway, have you heard about what happened to Mystique? It was quite a scare wasn't it?"

"Why would I not be scared?" Mai replied as she approached the mannequin donning one of her latest designs and cut off pieces of cloth with her scissors. "Her diamond jewels got stolen by a mysterious thief, and what's worse, she got killed by the same robber!"

"Yeah, it's tragic." Milan stated, "Her diamonds were so valuable."

Mai glared. "Her life was even more valuable than diamonds, Milan! I don't care if they cost a million American dollars, gems and jewelry can be replaced! People can't!"

"Hey, I don't blame you for being upset. After all, you and Mystique have been ideal partners in the fashion industry."

"That part is true." Mai sighed as she put down her scissors. "She and I were like sisters aside from my receptionist. Things will never be the same now that she's dead. And if that's not bad enough, I keep hearing people say that I might be the thief's next target."

"Relax! It's just a rumor! Nothing's going to happen!"

"You're probably right, but we don't know that for sure." The fashion queen went over to one of her sketchbooks, scanning a drawing of a sexy dress she planned to stitch. "Anyway, I want you to call England and tell their branch of Marie Claire magazine that they can't have the photos of my spring line until after New York City Fashion Week."

"But why?" Milan asked.

"I think I'm losing my touch." Mai answered, "The robbery and murder that took place back in Tokyo are really affecting my designs."

"Oh don't let that get the better of you! I'm sure your outfits look fine! Of course, Vivian Wong is a completely different story."

"Oh yeah, I have to agree with you on Vivian. Compared to all my other models, she's extremely vain, and with a ridiculously over-inflated ego to boot."

"Anyway, I'll even have Paris notified about the photos."

"Thank you Milan." After ending the call she walked over to one of the dressing room. Along the way, she bumped into one of her models, accidentally splashing some black ink on her white dress. "Oh! Oh no! It's ruined! Oh, I'm so sorry! D-don't worry! I make you another one!"

"Actually, I think you made my dress look better!" the model replied happily, "I mean, look at that gorgeous pattern! It's already improved my figure!"

"You mean it?" Mai gasped in astonishment.

"Oh yes!"

"Thank God! Thank you so much!" Mai gasped in relief, and she continued into the dressing room. Inside were two beautiful models, one of whom was dressed in a sky blue satin dress with a long neckline and an asymmetrical hem at the bottom, which complimented her blue eyes and long snow-white hair that reached her hips.

The second model was rightfully the bane of Mai's existence. She was a Chinese woman with long black hair put up in two buns that trailed in pigtails, and wore a yellow Chinese-style dress, complete with red high heels. "LADY VALENTINE!" she shrieked angrily. "It's about time you've come here! Take a look at the horrendous dresses you've made!"

"Vivian…" Mai moaned. The Chinese model, Vivian, ignored her employer and stomped over to the blue eyed model.

"For example! You see the neckline on Kisara's dress? It's way too high!"

"I don't think it's high at all." Mai stated as calmly as she could, "In fact, it looks stunning on her."

"She's right." The blue eyed model, Kisara, agreed. "And besides, I really like it this way."

"So you like bearing the resemblance of an OSTRICH?" Vivian snapped. Kisara had a hurt look on her face.

"_Vivian!_" Mai barked in growing anger.

"That's not all!" Vivian interrupted, and she took out a red and orange dress with several frills. "This one right here, it's got too many frills, elbow-lows and stripes—I was looking for the fan tail goldfish look, not the fan tail pigeon!" She tossed the dress to the ground and then took out a flamingo pink dress, giving a look of shocked disgust. "But GYAAA! That outfit you're planning to have me wear IS THE PITS! It's loose where it should be tight, tight where it should be loose… if I wear this _thing_, I'd look like the neck of a turkey!"—she ripped the dress in question to shreds—"HOW DARE YOU MAKE SUCH ATROCIOUS CLOTHES!"

That was the last straw! The fashion queen roared, "WELL EXCUSE ME FOR BEING SO DISRACTED BY MYSTIQUE'S DEATH THAT I FOREVER TARNISHED YOUR GODDAMN IMAGE! I've put up with your arrogance for quite some time, but this has gone FAR ENOUGH! YOU'RE FIRED, VIVIAN!"

"What?" Vivian gasped in shock.

"You heard me!" Mai snapped, "You're fired! Now get out! OUT!"

Vivian fumed at those words, but she nevertheless stomped out of the dressing room. Mai also decided to leave, rushing down the long hall into her office. Once there, she plopped down onto her desk. "I can't believe this is happening!" she sighed. The fashion queen pushed on the intercom.

"Yes Lady Valentine?"

"I decided to make some drastic changes to half of new line before Fashion Week tomorrow night. Also, we're in need of a new top model; I had to fire Vivian due to her taunting the other models and comparing them to barnyard animals to justify her own vanity." Then Mai slumped back down in her chair.

"Is everything all right?" a gentle voice spoke from just outside her office. The moment Mai looked up, her eyes lit up. At the door stood another young woman, barely sixteen years old with sky blue eyes and chocolate brown hair that reached her shoulders. She had on a pink jacket and a blue skirt, along with white knee-high stockings and brown shoes. In her arms she held a notepad.

"Anzu!" Mai gasped, rising up from her chair with a smile upon her face, "You're just the girl I wanted to see!"

"Hey Mai!" greeted the receptionist, Anzu Mazaki, and the two friends embraced each other. Once they broke the hug, she stated, "You seem to be having a rough day today. What's going on?"

"Oh you have no idea!" Mai replied, "Come on in!" The fashion queen once again took her seat, but Anzu remained standing.

"You're still thinking about Mystique?" Anzu asked.

"Yes." Mai admitted sadly, "And it's starting to affect my work."

"I understand." The receptionist reassured. "I think about her too sometimes. But I'm sure that, with time, we'll be able to move on with our lives."

"That's easy for you to say." Mai muttered bitterly, "I've heard rumors about the thief's next target and I can't help but worry. And of course, Vivian had to make things worse by being a bitch as usual." Her lips soon curled into a smirk. "The good news about that is that I finally managed to give her the pink slip."

Anzu let out a surprised gasp, "What? You actually fired Vivian? Well, it's about time!"

"Yep!" the fashion queen frowned again, "But now I'm one less model for New York City Fashion Week! I don't know what to do!"

"Oh I'm sure there's someone out there who would like to take Vivian's place." Anzu reassured, "And they'll be good at it too. Anyway, would you like some coffee?"

"Sure." Mai answered, "I could use a pick-me-up." As the receptionist went over to get a coffee mug from high on the shelf, her notepad slipped from her grasp. Although she managed to keep from dropping it, some photographs fluttered down to the floor. Mai managed to catch a glimpse of one of those photos. She went over to pick it up before Anzu even got a chance to lift her finger toward them. Her eyes widened in amazement as she got a closer look at it. "Anzu… is that you in those photos?"

"Oh, um… yeah." Anzu confessed, blushing in embarrassment, "They're really not that good."

"Well may I take a look at them?"

"Uh, sure…" Anzu answered hesitantly. Mai picked up the rest of the photos and placed them on her desk. Anzu also took a seat.

The first photo, the one Mai took up first, depicted Anzu in a beautiful pink dress with a billowing skirt. She was seated in a ladylike fashion holding a rose. "Oh look at you Anzu!" Mai praised, "Ricking grandeur!" The second photo depicted the receptionist in a silver toga-like dress, lying on an elegant couch with her head and arms propped on a stack of fluffy pillows. "The aloof Luav!" The third depicted Anzu in a black kimono-styled outfit with short sleeves, decorated with cherry blossom motifs. She was standing with her exposed back to the camera, holding up a bamboo brush. "The demure Meider!" The final photo showed Anzu in a sexy frontal pose, her left arm above her head and her right leaning as if on a glass window. The dark red lingerie she wore exposed a great deal of smooth skin. The expression on the receptionist's face was especially flirtatious. "Ha! Daring in Victoria's Secret!" When she was done looking Mai smiled at her friend. "And such a wonderful range of emotions!"

"You really think so Mai?" Anzu queried.

"I know so!" Mai answered with a wink, "Don't be so modest! You have what it takes! So starting tomorrow, say goodbye to the reception desk—and hello to the runway!"

Anzu's eyes widened at the sound of her friend's words. "Are you serious? Y-you want _me_ to be your top Valentine model?"

"Sure! You're perfect for a career in modeling! You've got style, grace, and you even got the inner beauty to back it all up! In other words, you're the complete package! Of course, if you decide not to take the offer, I understand wholeheartedly!"

"No, no!" Anzu stated, "I'd be honored to be you newest model! It's a refreshing change from the humdrum life of a receptionist!"

"That's great!" Mai replied happily. "I'm already looking forward to it!"

"Me too! Thank you so much!" Anzu rose up to leave the office when the fashion queen suddenly stopped her.

"Wait! There's one more thing!"

"What is it Mai?"

The expression of worry returned to her face. "I have something to ask of you… as a friend. I… need your help. You see… the rumors about the thief's next target? Well, that target in question just so happens to be me."

Anzu gasped in horror. "No way!"

"No doubt they're after my own diamond jewelry, especially the most precious diamond I shared with Mystique: the Millennium Diamond. And considering the fact that the thief is willing to kill just to get their hands on the Millennium Diamond, I have every reason to be afraid."

"Wow! No wonder you're having such a bad day today!" Anzu stated, "There must be something I can do to help you out. I mean, I'm a very good fighter when I need to be. But then again, I highly doubt that this mysterious thief knows what you look like; you've never appeared in the public eye before, so it'll be difficult for them to know exactly who to strike."

The fashion queen's eyes lit up with inspiration. "Anzu! You've just given me an idea! It's a risky endeavor, but if it tricks that thief, it's bound to work!"

"What are you talking about?" Anzu asked in curiosity.

"Anzu… I want you… to pretend to be me."

The receptionist and model-to-be stared at her friend in shock. "Are you… serious?" she asked in a low tone.

Mai nodded. "You said that the murderous thief has never seen me in public, right? If you play the role of Lady Valentine, we'll be able to take them by surprise and catch them in the act!"

"Really?" Anzu stated, "I-I don't know if I can do this. I'm not exactly a good actress, and besides, it's very dangerous!"

"But it's our best chance Anzu!" Mai reasoned, "You're an excellent fighter, so I'm sure you'll be able to take them down when they try to get their hands on you. Don't worry, I'll be able to help you out with the whole thing. I'll even play the role of one of my own models; I've always wanted to be an undercover boss, but that's beside the point." She let out a sigh before she continued. "Look, as long as that thief is out there, I'm not going to be the only one who's in danger. I need to have them unmasked and put to justice, but I won't be able to pull it off without your help! You're the only person I know I can trust! So please… would you do this for me?"

Anzu stared blankly at the fashion queen, weighing the options_. It is a dangerous prospect,_ she thought, _but still, Mai is my best friend… and I'll do anything to protect her, even if I put myself in harm's way._ "All right Mai. I'll do it."

"Thank you!" Mai sighed in relief, shaking her receptionist's hand, "You don't know how much this means to me!" She rose up from her seat. "Anyway, I'm going to get us something to drink. This would be a good time for you to practice on being me."

"Uh… okay." Anzu replied.

The fashion queen stopped by the door and turned around. "I'll be right back in a minute. Remember, you're Lady Valentine."

"Got it."

And with that, Mai left the office. Now alone, the soon-to-be Valentine model stood up from her seat. "Oh… this is so nerve-wracking! Hmmm… If I were Mai Kujaku, how would I respond to the people around me?" After pacing back and forth, she smiled, "I know! Mai always wanted to be nominated and chosen for an award for best fashion!" She proceeded to clean off her employer's desk and climb on. "I hope she doesn't mind me using this for a stage."

* * *

Meanwhile, a far distance from the hall and dressing room, Vivian was still shaking in fury. "That bitch!" she growled, "How dare she kick me out of the business. I'm a famous model! No one sweeps me under the rug like dirt!"

"Whoa! What's the matter Missy?" a voice spoke to her in an Australian accent, "You sound like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed!" The Chinese model looked up to find two men looking at her. One had blue-gray eyes and brown hair with messy spikes. He wore a red sleeveless tank top with shoulder pads, blue jeans and knee-high boots that gave a biker look. In fact, he even had a pair of goggles resting on his head.

The other young man was of Egyptian origin, with tanned skin, platinum blonde hair and lavender eyes. He had on a loose lavender vest shirt and beige pants, complete with black boots. He even had a pair of gold earrings shaped like an ankh.

"Who are you?" Vivian snapped.

"You're one of the famous Valentine Models, huh?" asked the Egyptian.

"And you say something about being laid off?" stated the biker with the Australian accent.

"It's none of your business!" Vivian huffed.

"It is if Lady Valentine is involved." The biker noted, "So is it true that she fired you?"

That did it. Vivian exploded with rage. "Well if you want to know so badly, then yes, she did! I hate that bitch! I'm the most beautiful of all the Valentine Models, and yet she tosses me out like a piece of trash! I'll show her who's trash!"

"You know Varon, I think she might be of use to us and the Master." The Egyptian stated to his companion.

The biker, Varon, nodded. "With her grudge, we might be able to pull it off." He faced the Chinese model. "Vivian, is it? Do you want to get back at Lady Valentine for what she did?"

"Of course I do!" Vivian barked.

"Well, Marik and I would like to help. You see, we're planning to pull a heist tonight with the Master, and Lady Valentine is our latest target. The only problem is, we don't know what she looks like. Since you got inside information, why don't you join us?"

"Join you?" Vivian asked, raising and eyebrow in interest.

"Yeah." Answered, the Egyptian, Marik, "And as an additional bonus, we can have the Master do away with your former employer, just as he did with Mystique."

Vivian stared at the two men in shock… before she sported an evil smirk. "Heh heh, so you work for that mysterious and murderous jewel thief, eh?" As the elevator door opened and the trio entered, she stated, "I'm all ears!"

* * *

Downstairs, the four reporters stepped through the front door, dressed in their day clothes. Leading them was the cousin of the Mutou twins, Seto Kaiba. He was richly dressed indeed, with a black long sleeved shirt, black pants held up by a silver belt and knee-high boots, each with two buckles. Likewise, two buckled bands wrapped around his biceps. The most striking feature of his outfit was a silver-white sleeveless trenchcoat, billowing to his ankles. On the fold of that trenchcoat were the letters K and C.

"So this is Valentine Fashions!" Yugi mused. "It's even bigger than I'd imagine!"

"Yeah, whatever." Kaiba stated, "Anyway, we're going to take the elevator to the second floor. That's where you'll usually find Lady Valentine and the most famous of her top models."

"And I reckon Kisara's going to be among them?" Atem teased.

Kaiba blushed and answered, "W-well DUH! Kisara happens to be one of the favorites! L-let's just get over to the second floor, okay?"

As the four young reporters followed the teen millionaire to the elevator, it just so happened that the doors to that elevator opened, revealing Varon, Marik and Vivian. "Hi! What's up?" Jonouchi greeted as the trio passed by. When Honda laid eyes on Vivian, his eyes lit up and he wolf whistled.

"What a babe!" the photographer stated.

"C'mon Honda!" Yugi moaned, pulling Honda into the elevator.

"Hmmm… You think those guys work for a fashion magazine?" Vivian asked Marik.

"Maybe." He replied. At that moment, Honda lifted up his paparazzi camera.

"Hey, you mind if I take a picture?" he asked. The Chinese model, as vain as ever, smirked at the thought of having her picture taken. "Nice!" the photographer stated, "Strike a pose!" Vivian did just that, and the photo was taken. At that very moment, the elevator doors began to shut.

"Thanks!" Vivian replied and walked away with Varon and Marik as the doors shut completely. Unfortunately for Honda, since he was so close to the doors, they clamped right onto his unicorn-shaped hair!

"ERK!" Honda yelped, and he tried to pull himself out from between the elevator doors. But it was no use. "Help! I'm stuck!"

"Honda? HONDA!" Jonouchi shouted when he saw his friend in distress, and rushed over. "Honda, hang in there buddy!" He grabbed hold of the young photographer and pulled. Once. Twice. Three times… and it was on that third tug that the sandy blonde managed to pull Honda free.

"Honda! Are you all right?" Yugi asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Honda replied, and he pointed to his vertically flattened unicorn hair. "I'm just glad I still got my hair!"

Kaiba snickered haughtily. "You losers are just barrel full of laughs."

"Kaiba!" Atem barked.

Finally, the whole group reached the second floor. The teen millionaire stepped out first. "Okay, Lady Valentine's office is right around the corner to the left, or so I've been told. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find Kisara."

"Heh, heh, heh! Good luck Lover Boy!" Jonouchi snickered.

"Shut up Mutt!" Kaiba growled, and with that, he left.

"You guys stay here." Atem stated, "I'll go and have a chat with Lady Valentine."

"Sure, no problem!" Yugi replied.

As soon as the elder twin left, Jonouchi stated, "In the meantime, I'm gonna go get us something to drink."

"Thanks Jonouchi!" Honda answered. As the sandy blonde left for the break room, the photographer turned to Yugi and asked, "Would you help me fix my hair?"

* * *

Kisara placed the dress onto the hanger, feeling a bit down after being on the receiving end of Vivian's insult. She was now wearing a white tank top, a pair of brown shorts and hiking boots. The blue eyed model let out a sigh. Right at that moment, the door opened and in stepped a certain young man.

"Hello Kisara." Kaiba greeted kindly.

Kisara spun around in surprise and gasped in joy. "Seto!" She ran over to hug the rich millionaire, who returned it gladly. After all, she was one of the few people who got to see Kaiba's softer side. After they broke the embrace, she stated, "What brings you here to Valentine Fashions?"

"I just brought my twin cousins and their friends over to plan an interview with your employer." Kaiba answered, "How are things going for you?"

"Oh it was terrible!" Kisara replied sadly. "Lady Valentine was tormented by Mystique's untimely death, and if that wasn't enough…"

Kaiba glared, but out of concern for the blue eyed model. "Don't tell me. It's Vivian, right?"

"Yes." Kisara admitted, "She kept pointing out the flaws in Lady Valentine's fashion designs and mocking the other models. She even went as far as to call me an ostrich!"

"That bitch…"

To the teen millionaire's relief, Kisara's smile returned. "But there are some good news! After all that, Vivian finally got fired!"

"That's great!" Kaiba stated, "I'm glad she's not going to bother you anymore!"

"Yeah, me too!"

Kaiba paused for a moment, his cheeks turning pink. "You know… I was hoping to make this day even better for you."

"Huh?" Kisara stated in confusion.

"…Would you like to go out with me sometime?"

Now it was Kisara's turn to blush. She had been waiting for this moment for quite some time now. Her smile grew brighter. "Oh Seto… I would love to!"

"Awesome! When would you like to go?"

"Tonight would be fine!"

"Okay, then how about we go have dinner at the Summertelle? You know, the place where your employer likes to go?"

"That would be wonderful!"

Kaiba couldn't help but smile. He was already looking forward it.

* * *

"All right, it's a good thing Obelisk lent me some of his quarters before I came here!" Jonouchi stated as he approached the break room. "Now all I need to do is find a vending machine with some good drinks."

"YEEEEARGH! YOU STUPID THING!" roared a voice not so far away. Of course, Jonouchi didn't have to wait long to find the source. Not so far away on the other side, and angry and frustrated Mai was shaking a huge vending machine—hard. "GIVE ME MY DIET SODA!" As Jonouchi cautiously approached the woman, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. He didn't know why, but he could feel his heart skip a beat. Finally, the fashion queen let out a final shriek of frustration and slammed her head on the surface of the accursed vending machine. "I just had to be such a glutton for punishment!" she muttered under her breath.

It was only then that Jonouchi decided to speak up. "Uuuuh, Miss…?"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" Mai screamed as she spun around in fury. In reaction, Jonouchi just stood there bug-eyed, blinking at least twice. The fashion queen stared at this teenage boy in shock… then started blushing in embarrassment. "Oh… I'm sorry! I don't normally act like this."

"N-no problem." Jonouchi stammered, blushing, "I'm used to that kind of scenario. I gotta admit though, you got a pretty good set of lungs."

Mai turned rather bashful. "Oh! Uh, thanks, I guess!"

"You're welcome." Jonouchi replied, and composed himself. "So… I see you're having problems with that vending machine, huh?"

"Yeah. It ate my cash, and my diet soda just won't come out."

"I understand exactly what you're going through. Sometimes the same thing happens to me. I may not be a mechanic, but I know just the thing that might help! Just stand back, okay?"

"O-okay." Mai replied a little hesitantly, and stepped aside for the sandy blonde to do his work. He scanned the vending machine from top to bottom—then gave it a really hard kick! To the fashion queen's surprise, her can of diet soda dropped neatly out of the shaft!

Smiling, he took out the can and held it up for her. "There we go! Here, you can have this."

It wasn't long before a smile curled up on her face. _Wow!_ She thought, _It's not every day a total stranger would come along and do something nice for me like that! And he's actually cute too!_ She felt her heart flutter at that very moment as she took the soda can. "Thank you… whoever you are."

"Oh, my name's Jonouchi Katsuya, and along with three of my friends, I'm a investigative reporter for the Tokyo Nendaiki in Japan. One of them is meeting up with Lady Valentine right now and setting up an interview with her."

"Oh really?" Mai replied, thinking about Anzu and somehow confident that she won't blow their cover. "What a coincidence! Lady Valentine just so happens to be my employer! My name is Mai. I'm one of her up and coming models!"

"Really? That's so cool!"

"Yeah! And Lady Valentine is one of my dearest friends! She makes such excellent fashion! Just recently, though, she's been greatly affected by Mystique's theft and murder."

"Well, that's why we're here!" Jonouchi replied with a wink and a Thumbs Up. "We're gathering some information about the thief so that we can spur readers all over the world to help catch them! Plus, if the rumors are true, we'll make sure Lady Valentine is protected!"

"I see… maybe I can help out as well!" Mai suggested. "After all, I also want to protect my friend! How about we talk over dinner tonight?"

"Dinner?" Jonouchi repeated, his eyes lighting up. "That's a great idea! I'll pick you up at your house! Is 7:00 a good time?"

"Sure! And about where to pick me up!" Mai replied, "I'm going to spend some time at Lady Valentine's mansion. I'll give you the directions if you'd like; I've been there so many times I've memorized the address!"

"I'm all ears, Mai!" Jonouchi replied excitedly, "Besides, this is my first time in New York City and I don't wanna get lost!" Even then, the sandy blonde couldn't believe his good fortune. He came all the way to America to help his friends with an interview with Lady Valentine, and he just managed to score a date with one of her models!

* * *

Back in the hallway leading to Lady Valentine's office, Atem passed by what appeared to be a mailman holding a small package. "Excuse me sir," the Mailman stated, grabbing the elder Mutou twin's attention. "Do you know where to find a man called Bakura? Apparently, he ordered a pile of skull pattern socks."

"No, I don't think so." Atem answered.

"Okay. Thanks anyway." And the mailman quickly left. Brushing that encounter aside, Atem proceeded onward until finally he reached the door that led to the fashion queen's office. As he approached the doors, he heard a voice talking from beyond.

"Oh, it is such an honor! I would like to thank you for choosing me as America's top fashion designer!" Curious, he tried to peek through the keyhole. There, he found what appeared to be the figure of a young woman just his age, standing on the desk with her back towards him. Apparently, the woman was talking to herself. "I tell you, Hon! When I took my first steps in the world of fashion, I never dreamt that I would rise up to such lofty heights! This is the pinnacle of my career, and for that I thank you!" The elder Mutou twin decided to knock then.

"Um, excuse me? May I come in?"

Inside the office, Anzu gasped in shock, looking around. She certainly wasn't expecting any visitors other than Mai! Nevertheless, she composed herself. "Uh… of course! Just let yourself in, the door's unlocked." Atem slowly took hold of the doorknob and turned. He was still a bit hesitant, however, and he opened the door to a tiny crack, peeking inside. He had never met a rising celebrity before in his life, so he had every right to be so nervous. "So, what do you think of the drapes?" Anzu asked, "I personally prefer shutters myself." The receptionist then proceeded to walk toward the wall, her back still toward her visitor. "And on that wall over there, I—WHOA! AIEEEEEE!" Apparently, she wasn't watching where she was going, and before she knew it, she had tripped off the desk. She tried to grab onto on of the shelves to break her fall, but it was to no avail; she crashed onto the floor, books clattering around her, and one of the spare trashcans Mai had stored on the top landed straight on her head.

Atem gasped in horror, and burst right through the door. After looking around the office, he managed to find the woman amidst the mess, her back still turned to him, and the trashcan covering up her head. She moaned in obvious pain, even as she tried to sit up. Even so, he could tell that she had such a beautiful figure in spite of the modest clothing. Slowly, the young reporter stepped toward her, not wanting to frighten her. Finally, Anzu sat herself up. "Lady Valentine?" Atem stated in concern. When he got no answer, he bent down in front of her. "Lady Valentine?"

"Ugh… W-who's there?" Anzu asked, "Where are you?" As if to answer her question, Atem reached out and slowly removed the trashcan from her head. The moment he saw that beautiful face, short chocolate brown hair and sky blue eyes, he gasped in wonder. Anzu also let out a gasp the moment she laid eyes on the handsome young man before her, with his deep crimson eyes and spiky tri-colored hair. Both parties felt their cheeks turn pink, and their hearts flutter. Already they can feel a connection forming between them, and they smiled at each other.

"Uh… hello!" Atem finally stated bashfully, "A-are you all right?"

"I don't know if I'll ever be the same!" Anzu sighed.

"Huh?"

Realizing that she was on the floor right by her, she once more composed herself. "Oh… sorry! I don't normally fall like that. I'm being such a klutz today!"

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I think you fell rather gracefully. Kind of like an angel traveling to earth for the very first time." Atem reassured.

Anzu felt herself blushing like never before. "Why… thank you, Mr. Uhh…"

"Oh! Mutou. Atem Mutou. I'm an investigative reporter for the Tokyo Nendaiki. I've come all the way from Japan to set up an interview with you."

"An interview? With me?" Anzu asked in surprise. Then it suddenly dawned on her. _That's right! I'm supposed to be Lady Valentine! Well, since this guy already thinks I'm her to begin with, I guess I should start my act!_ She let out a sheepish laugh. "Oh, hee hee, you've come to the right girl!" Looking at the state she was in, she asked, "Would you mind helping me up?"

"Not at all." Atem replied, standing up and taking a hold of her hand. It was a bit of a struggle, but after a few seconds he managed to get the presumed fashion queen up onto her feet.

"Thank you." She sighed.

Atem nodded in acknowledgement. "So, Lady Valentine, when would you like to have this interview? Not now, of course! With New York City Fashion Week approaching, I'm sure you must be busy with your latest line. Not to mention how the theft and murder of Mystique is affecting you at this moment."

"That is so true! All of that is making me feel so stressed!"

"Well, perhaps this might help." Atem suggested, "How about we discuss this matter tonight over dinner?" Of course, after this meeting, an interview wasn't the only reason he wanted to go with Anzu.

"That's great!" Anzu replied happily, "I'd be happy to!"

"Good! If you don't mind, I'll pick you up at your house. I'm sure it must be beautiful there."

"Oh, it sure is!" Anzu replied, remembering Mai's mansion.

"Where do you live exactly?"

The model-to-be didn't give a straight answer right away. In fact, she was feeling rather playful. "Guess!" she stated mischievously.

"Oh a challenge, eh?" Atem replied with an equally playful smirk. "Well I accept, but be warned! I'm considered the King of Games in my day. Now let's see… Um… Catwalk Avenue!"

"YES! Catwalk Avenue!" Anzu stated in excitement, "Are you psychic or something?"

"Not really, I just have a good memory." Atem admitted.

"Okay then, what's the number?"

"Ooh, here's a curve ball… 27…0… 6!"

"BULLSEYE!" Anzu stated, "2706, Catwalk Avenue!"

"All right then! I'll go out and pick you up at…8:00!"

"5:30!" Anzu stated at the exact same moment. The both blushed awkwardly, and so they tried again.

"9:20!"

"4:15"

Again, two different times spoken simultaniously, and again they blushed awkwardly. So they tried one more time.

"7:00" they both shouted. They both burst out laughing.

"That was fun!" Atem noted.

"Yeah!" Anzu agreed.

"So it's settled then! I'll see you later!" Atem was about to walk out when Anzu interuppted him.

"It's 7:00, right?"

Atem stopped and answered, "That's right, 7."

"I'll keep that in mind!"

Atem lingered by the door and sighed lovingly. "Well… Goodbye." And with that, he left.

"Hee, hee, yeah!" Anzu sighed likewise, "Sayonara!" A minute later, Mai returned with a can of diet soda and a cup of water.

"Hey, Hon! I'm back!" Mai announced. "And I just saw a man coming out of the office on my way here! He looks like he's quite a catch!"

"Oh he is!" Anzu replied dreamily, "He's an investigative reporter from a Japanese newspaper and blog. I think it's called the Tokyo Nendaiki." And intrigued Mai lifted an eyebrow as her model-to-be continued, "We've only just met, and already we're are going out on a date! Tonight! I swear, it's love at first sight!"

"Well, what a coincidence!" Mai replied, "I'm also going out on a date tonight with an investigative reporter!"

"Really?" Anzu gasped in amazement, "What newspaper does he work for?"

"The Tokyo Nendaiki! He happens to be a friend of your dream boy, and I swear I feel some chemistry between us!"

"Wow! So I guess this must be a double date!"

Mai smirked playfully at her friend. "You know… I think this just might work out!"

Note: Talk about a twist in the plot! I wanted Mai to be a big part of the story too, you know! In the next chapter, hilarity abounds as our heroes ride back to Motel Joy in a crazy cab! Plus, an issue with the Mutou twins comes up as they and their friends get ready for their night out! Until Next Time!


	5. A Crazy Taxi and Date Preparations

Note: Hi peeps! Hope you liked the story so far! Here's another chapter that I manage to finish! Tons of hilarity ensues in this chapter! Also, when it comes to the song that's coming up later in this chapter, there's some slight changes to the original version found in the movie. Number one, some of the lyrics are rearranged to fit this story, and two, it is done in the style of a modern day R&B hit.  
As to who gets to perform this, well, you'll have to see for yourself! Anyway, enjoy the story!

Chapter 4: A Crazy Taxi and Date Preparations

Later, outside Valentine Fashions, Honda stretched his arms as he and his friends walked down the stairs to the street. The photographer's unicorn-shaped hair was back to the way it was before the incident with the elevator. "Ahhh! I'm glad that's taken care of! Thanks for the help Yugi!"

"No problem." Yugi replied before turning his attention toward his twin brother.

"So spill it Atem!" Jonouchi insisted, "What's Lady Valentine like? Is she really as pretty as people claim?"

"Oh, she's more than pretty, she's beautiful!" Atem answered, excited about his meeting, "Gorgeous eyes, a graceful figure… And call me crazy, but I think she and I got some chemistry going on between us!"

"Well, it obvious she's got the hots for you Big Brother!" Yugi stated mischievously, "It runs in the family after all!"

"Hey, don't think you're the only one who managed to score a date!" Jonouchi bragged, "I happened to make some connections with one of the Valentine Models!"

"Big deal!" stated an unimpressed Kaiba, "My date's even prettier than yours!"

"Oh yeah?" Jonouchi growled, "Well you just wait until you see her in person! My date beats your date anytime anywhere!"

"_Anyway!_" Atem interrupted before a fight would break out. "Thank you, Kaiba, for helping us out so far."

"Whatever." Kaiba replied. "I'll see you and your brother later."

Perplexed, Yugi asked, "What do you mean? Aren't you going to take us back to Motel Joy?"

"I said I'd take you to Valentine Fashions." Kaiba answered bluntly, "I didn't say I would take you back. You're on your own from here."

"WHAT?" the four young reporters exclaimed in utter shock.

"Why you little-" Honda growled in growing anger.

"This is an outrage!" shouted Jonouchi.

"You know we can't find our way back to Motel Joy on our own!" Atem complained.

"So? Deal with it." Kaiba continued uncaringly, "Now go out and get yourself a cab. They'll take you back to your little shack in the slums."

Atem glared at his cousin. No doubt the teen millionaire has a way of pushing the wrong buttons. But it wasn't like there was any other choice. "Fine then!" Atem snapped, and he stepped out toward the street. He saw a cab making its approach. "Taxi!" he called, but to his dismay, it paid no heed and passed right by him.

"Don't give up Atem!" Jonouchi encouraged.

"Yeah Big Brother! There's more cabs coming our way!" Yugi added.

"I'm trying my best, okay?" Atem shouted, and he tried again. "Taxi!" The next cab passed by without stopping. "TAXI!" And so did the other cabs after that. The elder twin was on his wit's end. "Damn it! Why won't any of those cabs stop for us?"

Kaiba growled, annoyed at his cousin's failed attempt to get a ride. "That's it! Step aside!" he barked, pushing Atem out of the way, "I'll show you how to stop a cab!" The teen millionaire stepped into traffic just as a particularly speedy cab was making it approach. In fact, it was practically making some rather high jumps. When the cab made its landing, Kaiba took out an air horn and held it out in front of him. Then he pressed the button.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!

The cab went screeching halt, doing a 180 before stopping inches before him! The four young reporters yelled in shock. Luckily, Kaiba wasn't hit at all. The cabbie inside slumped back to his seat before staring at the men outside. He had green eyes and long wavy black hair, tied up in a red headband and a ponytail. He had on a black tank top with a red vest, along with black pants and boots that couldn't be seen from the outside of the taxi cab. It took a moment for the onlookers to recover from their shock, but when they did…

"KAIBA, THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR!" Atem bellowed in rage.

Kaiba put his air horn back into his pocket and stepped off the street. "WELL IT WORKED, DIDN'T IT?" he roared back. He let out a huff, before his voice grew calm. "Now hurry up and get in before it runs off. In the meantime, I'm going to get ready for my date. Later!" And with that the teen millionaire walked away.

"ARGH!" Atem shouted, punching the air and cursing under his breath.

"This is just another reason why I hate Kaiba." Jonouchi groaned.

"I concur fully!" Honda agreed.

"Yeah," Yugi added, "If he wasn't our cousin, I'd have Atem beat the crap out of him."

"Hey!" the cabbie shouted, "You coming in or what?"

"Oh!" Atem gasped before he and his friends turned around. "Uh yes, thank you. Sorry about the air horn."

"That's fine! I get the air horn all the time! By the way, the name's Otogi." The cabbie introduced himself as the four young reporters each entered the cab one by one. "I'm almost done with my shift for the day, but I have time for one more run. Where to?"

"Motel Joy, if you don't mind." Atem replied.

"Nice! That's exactly where I'm going!" Otogi stated enthusiastically, "I actually live there, you know!"

"You do?" Yugi asked.

"Yep," Otogi answered, "When I'm not working as a cabbie, I do a lot of volunteer work for the Helping Hands Foundation." He revved up the engine in a way that made its passengers nervous, especially Jonouchi and Honda.

"Why do I get the feeling this isn't gonna end well?" Honda murmured.

"All right!" Otogi shouted, "Fasten your seatbelts guys, this is gonna be a wild ride!" With that he pushed hard on the pedal. The cab started going really fast around the block, spinning in circles like a pinwheel outside a jet airplane. The passengers were all screaming in terror. Then the cab suddenly stopped. "Whoops! I must have put the damn thing in reverse!" The four reporters all grew pale as the cabbie put the automatic clutch in the right position. "Ha! Now we're ready!" And again, he pushed hard on the pedal. That was when the wild ride truly began. The cab traveled down the road in top speed like a racecar, and the passengers screamed as Otogi made a sharp left turn, nearly crashing into several cars.

"ARE YOU NUTS?" Jonouchi exclaimed.

"Hey, at least I get my customers to their destinations on time when they need to be!" Otogi replied with a smirk. He then made a sharp right turn in another corner, knocking down a road sign in the process. "Sorry about that detour, there are some parts of the city I still need to get used to!"

"How long have you lived in New York City?" Yugi asked.

"About six months now!"

"Well that explains a lot!" Atem shouted sarcastically.

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain how I managed to keep my driver's license!" Otogi proudly answered.

"OH NO!" Jonouchi shouted, and the cabbie had ran onto the sidewalk, crashing into the furniture of an outdoor café. Luckily no one was hurt. But that was not the end of our heroes' taxi woes, as the cab sped down the road toward the stoplight—with Kaiba's limo on the other side of the lane!

Inside the limo, Kaiba had just poured some tomato soup out of his thermos and was about to eat it when suddenly, a familiar cab came into view, purposefully running the red light. Everything seemed to go into slow motion for him as he saw the cabbie pull a mocking face at him… and then his terrified cousins and their friends, holding on to each other for dear life. "LOOK OUT!" Atem screamed, pointing down the street.

The next thing the teen millionaire knew, the cab was flying up into the air in a big jump. His eyes widened in utter shock as he watched it all happen before his eyes. In fact, he was so shocked that he dropped his soup onto his lap. "Oh crud…!" he could only mutter. And indeed as the cab made a crash landing and skidded out of view, he was having second thoughts about forcing the four young reporters to take a cab.

After all, he realized, he had been on that exact same cab once before when his limo broke down!

Back on that crazy taxi, Otogi announced, "WOO-HOO! Next stop, Motel Joy! So what's your room number?"

"Room number?" Jonouchi exclaimed, "W-WE DON'T KNOW! All we know is that we're on the second floor!"

"Oh never mind then!" Otogi replied with a mad grin, "I'll just drop you off at the lobby!" As the cab took a sharp right turn toward their destination, Yugi had to poke his head right out of the window. At the door to Motel Joy, Raphael had just finished taking out the trash, when he caught sight of Otogi's cab. His eyes widened with shock—he knew exactly what's going to unfold.

"INCOMIIIIIIIIIING!" He hollered at the staff and the residents, and everyone in the Motel took cover right away. They all have been through this scenario way too often.

Realizing that the cab they were in was about approaching the door in full speed, Yugi screamed in terror and popped his head back inside. Good thing, too, because right at that very moment, the cab went flying again, and busted through the door of the Motel entrance! Those who had not gotten out of the way on Raphael's warning did so at the approach of the wild car. Finally, it made a landing right by the front desk, and at last came to a full stop. Emeraude had come out of the pool area in her green bikini, inspecting the damage.

"Oh—my—god!" She gasped. "I am so glad he didn't land in the pool this time!"

Amelda groaned. "You can never find a proper cab when you need one!"

"Tch, tell me about it." Raphael agreed. Soon the heroes burst out of their nightmare ride.

"LAND!" Honda cried, plopping to the ground.

Jonouchi was shaking as he walked out. "I am never gonna go through that again!" Atem, meanwhile, had managed to compose himself in time to carry out his somewhat traumatized twin brother.

"At least now I'll never be afraid to ride roller coasters!" the younger Mutou twin shuddered.

"Um, thank you Otogi." Atem stated calmly.

"No problem." Otogi replied with a wink. "And since you're staying here, this ride is free of charge! Anyway, I'll see you later. I'm gonna go park my cab now."

Atem grew pale at the sound of those words. "… Oh no." Before anyone has the time to protest, Otogi revved up the engine again—and charged right through the motel! Coral stepped out through the resulting hole, donning a yellow apron and holding a ladle.

"JEEZ!" she complained, "Every day it's the same thing! Just when we thought we're going smoothly with reconstruction, that clown just had to ruin it all with his stupid cab! Especially with my beautiful kitchen! Looks like steering wheel stew is on tonight's menu again!" The occupants groaned in dismay. The four young reporters had since recovered from their taxi ordeal.

"That's alright, Coral." Atem reassured, "I'm planning on dining out anyway."

"Yeah," Jonouchi stated proudly, "and that's because Atem's got a date with-" The sandy blonde didn't get to finish, for the elder twin slapped his hand over the mouth of his friend.

"Jonouchi! You don't have to tell everybody!" Atem whispered.

"Okay… I'll keep it down." Jonouchi murmured, and he turned toward the military man. "Don't tell, Raphael!" he whispered, "Atem just scored a date with Lady Valentine."

"You serious?" Raphael blurted out in surprise, "Atem's actually got a date with Lady Valentine?"

"That is awesome!" Emeraude exclaimed in excitement, "Wait until the boys hear about this!" Just then, Slifer, Nautilus and Obelisk came rushing in from the balcony.

"Hear about what Emeraude?" Slifer asked.

"Yeah Dude, what's up?" Obelisk queried.

"You're not gonna believe this," Coral shouted, "but Atem is actually going with Lady Valentine on a date! And on her first public debut too!"

"Lady Valentine?" Nautilus gasped, and turned toward the elder Mutou twin. "Is it true?" And now the whole motel was in on the exciting news. But Atem was flustered.

"JONOUCHI!" he blurted, "Why did you have to let it out? IT'S EMBARASSING!"

"I didn't mean to let it out like that!" Jonouchi stated hurriedly, "It's not like the whole world's gonna know!"

"The whole world?" Atem shouted, "Well you don't KNOW the WHOLE WORLD!"

"Relax Atem!" Yugi reassured, "Besides I know just the thing that'll make you feel better."

"And what would that be Little Brother?" Atem asked, to which the younger twin smirked mischievously and turned his attention to the staff and residents of Motel Joy.

"Hey everyone! If you think that was big news, then get a load of this! Jonouchi's going out on a date too: with one of the newest Valentine Models!"

"Yugi!" Jonouchi exclaimed in shock, but it was already too late.

"That is gnarly Dude!" Obelisk cheered.

"Yeah, looks like we got a double date!" Slifer stated. And once again, the whole motel was in a state of frenzied excitement. Jonouchi bowed down his head, blushing in embarrassment. But not for long.

"YUUUUUUUGIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Jonouchi roared, and the younger twin dashed into the large hole, with the sandy blonde hot on his heels.

"I guess some things never change." Honda muttered. It was then that Nautilus spoke up to the elder Mutou twin.

"There's no need to be embarrassed Atem Mon," he stated, "I can tell you're in love with her. In fact, Coral Chan and I can help you get ready."

"Are you sure?" Atem asked.

"Of course! We happen to know the ins and outs of high class social gatherings. Let's head over to your room and you'll know what I'm talking about."

Atem smiled in gratitude.

* * *

Later that evening, Honda poked out the window of his shared room to face some pigeons. He lifted up his paparazzi camera at his intended subjects. "Okay, hold still." And with that, the camera flashed, scaring away the flock. The photographer looked in his camera. "Yep, it still works!"

Inside the motel room, Atem was finishing up with his shaving, humming to himself. He was shirtless, and wearing a nice pair of navy blue silk pants. Jonouchi was a completely different matter: all he had on was his boxer shorts decorated with the patterns of the Red Eyes Black Dragon and a pair of white socks. The elder twin doused his face in water. "I'm glad you guys didn't let everyone in on where Lady Valentine lives." He stated to Nautilus and his friends. "If that was the case, the whole motel would be camped right outside our door!"

The Afro-Asian vocalist had just finished with his own attire: a white tank top and silk azure pants complete with white boots and a long azure trenchcoat. He truly looked like a gentleman. "No problem Atem Mon. Besides, Coral Chan and I needed to get ready for our own R&B gig tonight. It's taking place in a very rich and sophisticated part of Manhattan, and that's why we need to go formal like this."

"You got the rest of our outfits ready, don't you?" Atem asked.

"Of course he does!" Slifer replied. "And when he's done with you, you'll be all swagger!"

"That great!" Jonouchi stated, and looked at the mirror. "Oh boy, you and I are gonna have a good time tonight Pal!" He grinned and struck a pose with a thumbs up.

The elder twin chuckled. "Yeah, we sure are."

"Hey Atem!" Yugi greeted, approaching his big brother.

"Yugi?" the elder twin gasped in surprise, "Why are you all dressed up?" Indeed, the younger Mutou twin was wearing a navy blue tuxedo, complete with a white dress shirt and black bow tie— an outfit that looked exactly like what Atem was putting on.

"It's simple Atem." Yugi explained, "I want to go with you."

"Yugi…" Atem murmured with slight disapproval as he sat down on his bed and proceeded to put on his white socks.

"Don't worry, we'll just pretend that this is one of Kaiba's dinner parties. When we get to our destination, wherever that would be, we'll just have to act naturally."

"Yugi," Atem stated sternly, putting on his black boots, "It's '_I'll_ have to act naturally', not _we_." Yugi stared at his brother in shock.

"Jonouchi, you missed a spot when you were shaving." Honda noted to the sandy blonde.

"Really? I didn't notice." Jonouchi stated, having already put on his dress shirt and bow tie.

"What are you talking about Atem?" Yugi asked.

The elder twin's eyes stared right into that of his twin. "This is my date with Lady Valentine, so it's just me, not us."

"N-not… us?" Yugi stuttered, growing visibly upset as the elder twin put on his dress shirt and buttoned it up. "But I don't get it! We've always done things together since we were kids! You're not really going without me, are you?"

Atem sighed. "I'm afraid so Yugi. Don't get me wrong. I love you, and you'll always be my little brother."—Having tucked in his shirt, he picked up his bow tie—"But this is something that, for once, I need to do alone."

At this, Yugi grew sad. "I see… I understand." And he slowly walked to the side.

"Well now!" Nautilus mused, plopping a CD in its player and turning it on. "Here's a good time to practice one of my R&B melodies! Atem, here are your cuff links."

"Thank you." Atem replied. Nautilus started his song then.

"_**And straighten your tie!**_" Initially surprised by the reminder, the elder twin did just that.

"_**Let me douse you in rich cologne…**_

_**But don't ask me why!**_" The Afro-Asian vocalist sprayed said cologne.

"Nice!" Atem complimented with a playful smirk.

"_**I'll go and pluck you a boutonniere!**_" Nautilus plucked a flower from a vase, only to frown upon finding it dead.

"_**You're moving up and walking on air!**_" He tossed the flower over his shoulder.

"_**Strutting out with a star, and feeling high!**_" He did some moves like he was Michael Jackson.

"_**Go and polish his wing tips!**_"

"Will do!" Honda replied with a wink and a thumbs up.

"_**I'll go call for a car!**_"

"Thanks Nauti—WHOA!" Jonouchi yelped as he was dragged by Nautilus and plopped onto the bed.

"_**You just sweep her right off her feet**_

_**Wherever you are!**_"

"No sweat!" Jonouchi managed to reply as the Afro-Asian retrieved the rest of the clothes.

"_**A satin collar, a velvet vest!**_" He tossed a pile onto the sandy blonde.

"_**Never settle for second best!**_" Nautilus handed the black vest to Atem.

"_**Strutting out with a star, kiss bad times goodbye!**_" Slifer picked up his electric guitar and played a hardcore riff.

Nautilus sang to Atem as he got his vest on.

"_**Hey, you got style!**_ Woo!" The vocalist stepped back, waving his hand like he was fanning himself from the 'heat'. And he continued the song with Jonouchi, who was pulling up his pants.

"_**And you got taste!**_" Nautilus licked his finger and poked the sandy blonde's shoulder. "Pssssht! Sizzling!" Then he gathered both men with shoulder hugs.

"_**On someone else I swear, this savoir faire**_

_**Would be such a waste…**_ Take my word for it!" He pushed the two away, and then zipped up Jonouchi's pants without warning.

"YERK!" the sandy blonde yelped, grabbing his crotch. "T-thanks." He then put on his vest and shoes, all while Slifer played yet another riff on his guitar.

Nautilus approached the elder Mutou twin as he stared at a top hat in indecision. "_**There's no need for a top hat!**_"

"Yeah! You're right!" Atem replied with a smile and tossed the hat away.

"_**Now you're ready to fly!**_" The Afro-Asian took an azure fedora and placed it on his own head, still dancing in the essence of the late King of Pop.

"_**Busting into the upper crust**_

_**As easy as pie!**_" He even did a moonwalk for good measure at the last part of that verse. Gathering up jackets of navy blue and black and giving them to its respective owners, he continued,

"_**Go out and make your dreams come true!**_

_**This is something you're born to do!**_" He directed the men to a mirror.

"_**Strutting out with some stars**_

_**With eyes on you!**_" Atem and Jonouchi imaged the two girls, Anzu and Mai, staring back at them, each blowing a kiss to their respective dates. As though receiving those kisses, they stepped back in a dreamy daze. "All right!" Nautilus stated, catching his friends. "You guys got the looks! Now all we need to do is practice some ballroom dancing!"

"Dancing?" Jonouchi gasped in shock.

"But Nautilus, we're just going to have a dinner!" Atem tried to reason.

"C'mon! Where you're having a date with a celebrity, you can't have a dinner without a dance!" Nautilus explained.

"I… guess you have a point." Atem noted, "But even so, I'm not so sure that we can dance."

"I could be of some assistance!" a familiar feminine voice called out. In stepped Coral, her wavy turquoise hair hanging loose, and she had on a sexy blue form fitting dress with a split on the side to show off the skin of her right leg, along with a pair of red high-heeled shoes. Most of the boys, with the exception of Nautilus, gawked at the sight. "After all, Nautilus and I are very good at ballroom dancing. We'll start with a waltz to see what you're capable of! Jonouchi, you go first!"

"Eh, I'm not feeling so comfortable about it." Jonouchi admitted as the motel chef took him in her arms and put him in position.

"Pretend it's Mai you're dancing with then!" Coral suggested. "Ready?" And so they proceeded with the lesson. "And one, two, three and four and one! Two, three and four and—good job!" Jonouchi wasn't too bad of a dancer. In fact, he actually did quite nicely.

"Yeah Jonouchi, work it!" Honda cheered.

When they were done, there was a great round of applause. "Not bad for your first try!" Coral complimented, "Now it's Atem's turn!"

"I can't help but feel nervous." Atem stated sheepishly.

"It's all right, everybody gets that way." Coral replied as the two of them readied for the waltz.

"If this helps, think about Lady Valentine!" Slifer suggested.

Atem smiled and the lesson went underway. Needless to say, the elder twin took everyone's breath away. He did more than just learn the movements quickly, and that impressed even himself! "Wow! You're a natural at this Atem!" Coral gasped.

"I guess I am!" Atem replied. "Let's see what else I can do!" Nautilus turned on the light so as to bring about a shadow. Everyone cheered as Atem did some hip-hop moves that made the Afro Asian proud. But when the elder twin's shadow started dancing by itself, there was astounding confusion. But the confusion didn't last long. Figuring out what's going on, Atem stepped toward the wall, and tore down what turned out to be a white sheet. And behind the sheet was the supposed 'shadow', who was none other than his own brother! "A-HA!" he shouted in triumph and grabbed his twin, giving him noogies.

"Ah ha ha ha, all right, all right, you got me!" Yugi confessed in a fit of laughter. Nautilus turned the light back off and continued his song.

He pointed to Jonouchi "_**Have you got class?**_"

"Yeah, I got class!" Jonouchi answered boldly.

The Afro Asian pointed to Atem "_**Have you got chic?**_"

"Of course I have chic!" Atem replied.

Jonouchi decided to do his own verse, hugging his best friend: "_**To think that you and me were ordinary**_

_**Only last week!**_"

"Yo guys!" Honda shouted holding up his camera. Atem and Jonouchi posed, along with Yugi. The picture was taken successfully of course.

Atem twirled around and flopped onto one of the beds. "All right! Now I'm ready to—FLYYYYYYY!" Unfortunately, it was the faulty bed that was taken by the sandy blonde and the photographer. It sprung up to the wall, catapulting the elder twin into the air and causing him to crash face down onto the floor. Everyone else gathered around him out of concern.

"Atem!" Yugi shouted. Thankfully, his older brother got up unharmed.

"Oh well, at least you can try!" Nautilus mused. And then he continued singing.

"_**Go out and make your dreams come true!**_

_**This is something you're born to do!**_" Then he danced his finishing number.

"_**Strutting out with a star!**_"

"Goodbye bad times!" Atem called out in time with the music.

"_**Strutting out with a star!**_"

"Hello good times!" Jonouchi added.

"_**Strutting out with a star and feeling high!**_" And with a "WOO!" Nautilus struck a cool pose, ending his R&B hit. Everyone applauded at his performance.

"That was terrific Nautilus!" Honda cheered.

"You're a showstopper if I've ever seen one!" Atem added.

"You guys done yet?" Emeraude called out from behind the door.

"Sure, you can come in now!" Jonouchi replied. With that, Emeraude who was back in her usual outfit, ad Obelisk came into to view their front man's handiwork.

"Whoa!" Emeraude stated, "Jonouchi, you look great! Mai's going to love it for sure!"

"Thanks!" Jonouchi replied.

Soon, all eyes were on the Mutou twins, who were standing side by side to each other, their looks completed. "So, what do you think?" asked Atem.

Obelisk stared in confusion. "Uhhh which one of you is Atem?" To which the twins sweatdropped.

Slifer elbowed his drummer friend. "Dummy… he's the one on the right!"

Yugi sighed in frustration. "This is getting old!"

Suddenly the elder twin was struck with an idea. "Yugi, do you have any hair gel left over?"

"Uh yes." Replied his brother.

"Well can I use it?"

"Sure. What for?"

"You'll see." Atem took out his brother's leftover bottle of hair gel, and then took some strands of his bangs and applied them. When the elder Mutou twin turned around, he looked as he did before, but he was also different. Some of the strands of his bangs now seemed to stand on end, lining with the rest of his hair quite perfectly. "Now can you tell us apart?"

At first, there was no answer, as all their friends stared at him, taking in his new look. But then, Obelisk smiled. "…Yeah!" he replied. "Yeah, we can! You look gnarly with your bangs standing on end like that Atem!" In fact, everyone was smiling, approving Atem's new look.

"I got to say, that style makes you look edgier!" Slifer complimented.

"Lady Valentine's going to love it for sure!" Emeraude cheered.

At that moment, Yugi turned away from his brother, bowing his head in sorrow. "Yeah Atem… I'm sure you're going to have a great time… without me." Tears began to build up in his eyes.

Seeing his twin brother so sad like this broke Atem's heart, and all at once he felt guilty. It was like Yugi told him; they've been doing everything together since they were small children. And by the looks of things, the younger twin wasn't ready to do things alone… yet. And for that matter, neither was the elder twin. "Uh… Yugi?" Atem finally stated.

Yugi sniffed. "What is it?"

Atem swallowed hard. "You can come."

Upon hearing those words, Yugi's eyes widened in amazement and he spun around to face his older brother. "You really mean it?" he gasped.

"Every word." Atem answered, "Since Lady Valentine doesn't know I have an identical twin, I was planning to introduce her to you anyway. So I guess it's best that you meet her in person."

The younger twin's lips curled into a joyful smile. He glomped the elder twin on the spot. "Oh thank you!"

"Hey, you don't mind if I come along too, right?" Honda asked.

"And me and Emeraude too!" Slifer added, pointing to himself and his girlfriend.

"And don't forget me!" Obelisk replied, "It's been a long time since we got to eat out at a fancy restaurant!"

Atem thought about it. "Oh what the hey!" he finally stated with a smirk, "The more the merrier!"

"ALL RIGHT!" Slifer exclaimed punching the air. In fact the rest of the band was cheering as well.

"And to make sure this party isn't too crowded…" Nautilus noted, approaching the door. He opened it to reveal a large group of residents that made up a single Lady Valentine fan club from somewhere in the first floor. "Sorry everyone," he told them, "But we're still not going to disclose the location of Lady Valentine's residence."

"Aw C'mon! Please?" whined one fan.

"We wanna go too!" cried another. In fact, the whole fan club was on the verge of tears. Before anything else could be done, the Afro Asian vocalist shut the door.

"That takes care of the groupies. Now all we need to do is find a way out."

The four young reporters stared in bewilderment. Finally, Jonouchi had to ask a rather stupid question. "Ehhh… How long have they've been outside our room?"

Note: Well, that was fun wasn't it? On a side note, Nautilus, the lead vocalist of my OC band Shining Nova, usually does modern rock, so consider it a treat to see a different side to his singing talents!

_**Nautilus Tide: (sweatdrops) H-hey, no need to flatter me!**_

Anyway, in the next chapter Atem and Jonouchi stop by at Mai's Mansion to pick up their dates, but they're not the only ones paying a visit. Until Next Time!


	6. A Tour of the Mansion

Note: Well, my friends, I present to you another chapter of the Great Duel Monster Caper! For those of you who have seen the movie, "The Great Muppet Caper", you'll probably remember the scene where Miss Piggy sneaks into a stranger's mansion to set up her little Lady Holiday Act. Well, as you could already tell in the previous chapters, I've changed the plot a bit. So naturally, the mansion scene is also twisted a bit to fit this story. Who's the one sneaking into Mai's mansion? Well you have to read and find out, but I assure you: hilarity ensues here! Enjoy!

Chapter 5: A Tour of the Mansion

The Valentine Mansion was a truly spectacular building to behold. "So this is where Mai Kujaku lives?" asked Mana, who was sitting on the branch of a tree from a good distance with her master.

"Mmm-hmm." Mahaad replied.

"It's so beautiful!" Mana sighed with sparkles in her eyes. "It must be a dream living in luxury!"

"It may seem that way." The Dark Magician explained, "But being rich and famous isn't always what it's cut up to be. Anyway, this is where Mai and Anzu are getting ready for their date in the next part of this story…" he paused for a minute, and his eyes narrowed. "Hm? Uh-oh."

"Master, What's the matter?" the Dark Magician Girl asked in concern.

"Looks like this mansion has some guests." Mahaad answered, "And when I say 'guests', I meant the uninvited kind."

* * *

Sure enough, two promiscuous perverts popped out of the bushes. "Oh boy! This is it!" Haga stated, unable to contain his excitement, "The home of Lady Valentine herself!"

"I can't believe we're this close!" Ryuzaki agreed, "This is where the most beautiful girls get to hang out! And if we get this right, we'll get to have a sneak preview!" The playboys chuckled just thinking about the girls in question. "Shhh! Keep it down!" the dino boy whispered, "Follow me." And so the two of them continued on sneaking through the bushes. Suddenly Haga tripped on a glass vase, and with a loud shout, he fell right on top of Ryuzaki, bringing about a domino effect that sent him crashing too. Soon they popped out of the bushes again, each rubbing their heads in pain. "Watch where you're going!" Ryuzaki yelled.

"Oh yeah, watch where you're going!" the bug boy retorted. Then they both covered each other's mouths, staring worriedly at the door. To their relief, no alarms went off, no guard dogs came out of nowhere to chase after them, no people are going out to investigate. "Whew! That was a close call." Haga sighed.

For a moment they just stood there. Then they snapped out of their daze. "C'mon!" Ryuzaki whispered. They rushed over, and sneaked at the side of the house toward a window.

"Maybe we can see some girls through here." Haga whispered. So as quickly as they could, they peeked into the window. Inside they could see the grand hall complete with an equally grand staircase. There was a pretty maid dusting the rails, conversing with a distinguished middle-aged English butler.

"Isn't it wonderful Neville?" the maid asked cheerfully. "The skies were all clear today, bringing in the warm sunshine."

"Ah yes!" the butler, Neville answered. "And it's not just the weather!"

The perverts turned away from the window to hide. "There's gotta be some babes around here somewhere." Haga grumbled.

"I know! Let's check the room up there." Ryuzaki suggested, and the two playboys rushed toward the wall.

Back inside, Neville continued his chat with the maid. "After all that's happened with Mystique, the mistress seems to be returning to her normal self. It's the first time I've seen her smile in days!"

"Well, Mai is a strong woman." The maid replied, "She just doesn't know it yet. Either way, I'm so happy that she and her friend have fallen in love. Why else would they be so busy getting ready upstairs?" Suddenly, there were some crashing noises, followed by the grunting of two voices. Apparently, the voices were arguing with each other. "What was that, Neville?"

Neville headed over to the window, peeking outside. "Oh nutters…" he groaned, "We got a couple of perverts climbing the walls outside the mansion."

"Again?" the maid moaned.

Right outside, Haga and Ryuzaki were scaling the walls toward the second floor. "Hurry up Ryuzaki! You're being too slow!" Haga complained.

"You don't want me to fall, do you Bug Boy?" Ryuzaki snapped. Right at that moment, he lost his footing and slipped. Luckily he managed to keep his grip and prevent a fall. Once he safely got back into position, he glared at the bug boy in question. "Next time we do a stunt like this, get some mountain climbing gear!"

"ME?" Haga blurted, "You're the one who suggested we scale the walls! And this is a building, not a mountain!" With that, the playboys continued their climb.

Inside, Neville groaned to himself. "Even as I speak, they're heading straight to the second floor! It's always like this every week!"

"What are we going to do about those two?" asked the maid.

"They seem to be the bumbling idiot types." Neville replied, "We'll let them have their fun sneaking around in the mansion. Then after that… you know what I'll do."

Outside, the two nitwits in question had gotten to the edge of the roof. Ryuzaki was swinging himself from the ledge… while Haga was swinging from Ryuzaki, trying to reach one of the two windows! "DO YOU SEE ANY GIRLS DOWN THERE?" Ryuzaki shouted.

"I DON'T KNOW!" bellowed Haga. "I CAN'T GET TO THE WINDOW! MOVE OVER TO RIGHT!"

The dino boy sighed and repositioned himself, "DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW HEAVY YOU ARE?"

"SHUT UP! I SEE SOMETHING IN THE BEDROOM!"

Indeed, inside the bedroom, two beautiful women were getting themselves ready. Anzu was sitting in front of the mirror. She had only a white towel wrapped around her body, for she had just gotten out of the shower. She hummed to herself a bit as she combed her hair. Mai looked over the dress she put on, a gorgeous strapless gown that seemed to sparkle, with no straps and an abstract feather design printed on the long skirt. He arms had matching 'gloves' that covered her arms from the biceps to the top of her hand. "Oh yes," the fashion queen stated to herself. "Jonouchi's going to love this one for sure!" It was then that the model-to-be grew sad and stopped humming. "What's wrong?" Mai asked in concern, "Why so down all of a sudden?"

"Mai…" Anzu answered, "I… I'm starting to have second thoughts about all this."

"About what? Pretending to be me?"

"Yeah… Atem is such a very nice guy, and the more I think about it…" Anzu let out a sad sigh. "Oh, I want to tell him the truth so badly!"

"Hey Hon… I know exactly how you feel." Mai reassured, rubbing her model's shoulders. "I want to tell Jonouchi about my real self too. But as long as that thief is out there, we need to stay undercover until they make that attempt to attack you. And like it or not, that means maintaining our cover identities in the face of our dates as well."

"But-"

"No 'buts' Anzu! We can't afford to let our guard down. That monster could be anywhere—and anyone."

Again Anzu let out a sigh. "I guess you have a point."

"Good. Now cheer up!" Mai stated with a smile, "We can't let those serious matters weigh us down." She took her friend toward her walk-in closet. "I just so happen to have the perfect dress guaranteed to knock Atem's socks off! It's over on your left hand side." And with that, she tore of the towel and gently shoved her in the closet, no doubt shocking the model-to-be at first.

"WHOA!" Anzu gasped as her friend shut the closet door to a crack. After a few seconds of silence, her voice echoed with wonder. "Oh…! Oh wow! It's beautiful!"

"I knew you'd like it Hon!" Mai replied. "In the meantime, I'll go pick out some jewelry for both of us." She then proceeded to take out a lovely diamond necklace, inlaid with gold. "After all you need to have some bait to lure in the thief… but mostly, we need some to look pretty for our boys."

Meanwhile, about a minute later, Haga opened the window leading to the hallway not far from the bedroom. He almost fell from the top of the mansion, but he managed to stick himself inside headfirst. Of course, he was resting his head on the windowsill after all that effort. "Hey Haga! Pull me in, will ya?" Ryuzaki stated.

"Shut up, I'm getting to it!" Haga replied through gritted teeth. After adjusting himself so that his back was toward the hall, he grabbed hold of the Dino boy and pulled hard. Unfortunately, he lost his balance, so although he managed to pull in his companion, they both fell down screaming. An old lamp was knocked down in the process, adding to the commotion.

"What was that?" Anzu asked from the bedroom, and the two perverts gasped in shock.

"Quick! Hide!" Haga whispered. They quickly put the old lamp back in its place and scurried over to the table, ducking underneath in hopes that the shadow would conceal them. Not long afterward, Mai came out to investigate.

"Hmmm, nothing out of the ordinary." Mai mused, "Maybe it's just my imagination. Anyway, are you finished dressing?"

"Yeah Mai, I'm ready!" Anzu called out.

"Okay!" Mai stated in satisfaction, "Let's go down so you can show off that look!"

"Um, sure! Coming!" Anzu replied, walking out of the bedroom and heading down the stairs.

From under the table, the obnoxious pair grinned like maniacs. "Just look at them Ryuzaki!" Haga stated, drooling, "Those are the most beautiful girls we've ever seen! And one of them is Lady Valentine! Which one is she again?"

"Who cares which one!" Ryuzaki replied, "Let's follow them down the stairs!"

"Right!" Haga whispered, and the two of them proceeded to take another route.

Back down the stairs, Neville and the maid were waiting patiently for their mistress and her friend to arrive. It didn't take long before the butler caught sight of the fashion queen. "Good evening Mai." Neville greeted, "You are looking splendid tonight."

"Thanks Neville." Mai replied, "But if you think I look good, just wait until you see what I did with Anzu."

As if on cue, Anzu called out from the top of the stairs, "Hey, here I am." Soon the model-to-be glided down the stairs, wearing a beautiful soft pink form-fitting gown, with silken straps that left her shoulders bare, and a billowing feathered skirt that reached to her ankles. She had on a pair of silken white gloves that reached to the middle of her biceps, and around her neck hung a dazzling platinum and diamond necklace. Even her hair was adorned by a pair of diamond barrettes, pinned on each side.

"Ah, dear Anzu!" Neville complimented, "Look at you! You're like a princess!"

"Do you really think it would do?" Anzu asked.

"Of course." The maid replied, "I can now see why the mistress chose you. You really are fit to be a Valentine model!" All while the conversation was taking place, Haga and Ryuzaki were sneaking around in the background, crawling like inchworms to another suitable hiding place—namely behind one of the shelves. Once secure, they poked their heads out to glimpse once more at the ladies.

"Well since you mentioned it," Anzu stated, "Look at this." Lifting her dress a bit, Neville finally noticed the footwear that the model-to-be was wearing.

"What do you know… glass slippers!" the butler mused, "Truly a post-modern Cinderella!"

Right at that very moment, the doorbell rang. Everyone was surprised at first, looking around. "Is that…?" the maid finally asked.

"Yes, I believe it's the doorbell." Neville replied before turning toward his mistress and her friend. "And that could only mean one thing: Your boyfriends have arrived!" The doorbell rang for a second time. "Put on that proverbial tiara Anzu, this is your time to shine as Lady Valentine."

"O ho ho! You're a poet and didn't know it, Neville!" Mai chuckled.

Anzu eyed the door with nervous hesitation. "I… uh… I'm not so sure about doing this."

"Oh don't be scared Milady. Go over there with Mai and answer the door." The doorbell rang a third time. "Of course, I can always answer it for you. I'll just direct them toward the bedroom and-"

"ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT, I'LL ANSWER IT!" screamed a blushing Anzu. In a flash she ran over to the door.

"Wait for me!" Mai shouted, following her from close behind.

Neville and the maid stared for a while, before the butler chuckled happily. "Now the fun part begins."

Outside the door to the mansion, Atem and Jonouchi waited patiently for the girls to arrive. Well… actually, Atem was the more patient of the two. "You sure this is the right place?" Jonouchi asked. "They're still not coming out."

"Be patient Jonouchi." Atem reminded his friend. Sure enough, the door opened, revealing a stunning Anzu and Mai.

"Hi!" Anzu greeted.

"Hello Lady Valentine." Atem greeted likewise with a gentle smile.

"Yeah, and nice to meet you." Jonouchi stated, "I'm Jonouchi Katsuya, but I'm sure you already heard about me from your friend." Upon seeing the friend in question the sandy blonde waved. "Oh, hi there Mai! You're looking fabulous!"

"Hey Jonouchi!" Mai replied.

"Wow!" Anzu gasped, noticing her boyfriend's newly updated hairstyle, "Atem, you look different with your bangs standing on end like that! You should do that style more often."

"Thanks." Atem replied, "I plan on doing that from now on, and also out of convenience. You'll see what I mean later." He held up a small bouquet of roses. "Anyway… I want you to have this."

Anzu took the roses into her arms. "Oh thank you!"

"And speaking of which… Mai?" a blushing Jonouchi added, holding up an equally small heart shaped box. Inside laid an array of rich chocolates. "I don't know what kind you like, but I hope you like them either way."

"Oh Jonouchi, I love those!" Mai replied.

"You know, we haven't been to a real ritzy American mansion before." Atem stated, "Can you give us a short tour before we go? We've got plenty of time to spare."

"Hmmm, I don't see why not." Anzu replied, "What do you think Mai?"

"I say let's do this!" Mai answered, "Since we're all here anyway, it wouldn't hurt to show them around."

"All right Hon!" Anzu stated, remembering the fashion queen's mannerisms, and she turned toward Atem and Jonouchi. "Come on in!" With that the ladies reentered the house with their guests.

From their hiding place, Haga and Ryuzaki were stunned when they saw two familiar figures strolling in with the girls. "No way!" Ryuzaki gasped, "It's Atem and Jonouchi, the guys we met in ninth class!"

"You mean the ones that forced us to carry their luggage?" Haga asked incredulously.

"Aw man! This is a great place you got there, Lady Valentine!" Jonouchi complimented.

"Yep, it was quite a steal when I got it." Mai replied, quickly realizing what she just said, " I-I mean, when she got it!" Thankfully, neither of their boyfriends noticed the slip up.

"Atem, Jonouchi," Anzu stated, approaching Neville, "This is Neville, my butler."

"Nice to meet you Neville." Atem greeted, reaching out his hand.

Neville bowed before he returned the handshake. "Tis a great pleasure, gentlemen. You are very fortunate to have captured the hearts of the mistress and her friend."

"Neville!" Anzu gasped, blushing. "L-let's get on with the tour, shall we?"

"But of course, Lady Valentine." The butler replied in a sly manner, "Now if you would just follow me…"

And as the guests walked away to start the tour, Haga whispered, "Those guys are so lucky! Having Lady Valentine and her model as girlfriends! Quick! Let's follow them!"

"Yeah!" Ryuzaki quickly agreed, "We gotta peek under their skirts before they do!" And they began to sneak out from behind the shelves and follow the beautiful girls. Neville noticed their presence of course: he just pretended not to.

"Now over here is the art studio." The butler stated, pointing to a room filled with art and crafts.

"Nice." Atem complimented, and turned toward Anzu. "Did you decorate this yourself?"

"Uh, yeah." Anzu replied at Mai's quiet urging, "I'd sometimes go there to sketch the latest fashion designs. Forgive me if that room's a little… how do you say… crafty."

The boys chuckled. "Good one!" Jonouchi noted. As the guests moved out to look at another room, the obnoxious pair made their approach. However, Neville stuck a leg out in front of them when they weren't looking. Both perverts ended up tripping over him and crashed landed onto some pottery in the art studio. The butler craftily shut the door before the noise could attract too much attention.

"Let's move on shall we?" asked Neville.

As the group moved onward, the studio door swung open, revealing Haga and Ryuzaki, covered in paint and ceramic dust. "Don't let 'em get away!" Ryuzaki stated in a fierce but hushed tone. And they stumbled onward as the tour continued.

"Over here is the kitchen and the dining room." Neville stated. "The who's who in the fashion industry would often come over to dinner sometimes."

"Cool!" Jonouchi replied.

"If you'll follow me up the stairs, I'll show you the bedroom." The butler suggested.

"Sure." Atem agreed. As the group climbed the stairs, the two playboys followed them by climbing the side of the railing—from the outside of the staircase.

"And what was that you said about mountain climbing gear?" Haga complained.

"Oh shut up!" Ryuzaki barked.

Inside Mai's bedroom, Atem and Jonouchi couldn't help but marvel at the surroundings. "This is amazing."

"Yep," Mai replied, "And over on the left you'll find the master bathroom."

"Mmmm smells nice in there!" Jonouchi complimented.

"Oh! And before I forget!" Anzu stated, rushing to a set of doors on the other side of the bedroom. "The walk-in closet that every girl dreams of having!" She swung open the closet doors. The closet itself was very large and roomy, filled with Mai's many trendy, if sometimes revealing, outfits.

"Very nice." Atem complemented, "And you got an excellent fashion sense too." Anzu simply giggled in response.

At that very moment, Haga and Ryuzaki finally managed to catch up with their intended 'victims'. They crawled low on the floor, making sure no one was watching. They grinning at each other… then proceeded to lift Anzu's and Mai's skirts. But just before they could stick their heads underneath… "Oh no you don't!" Neville snapped calmly. In an instant, he slapped the boys' hands, causing them to let go of the skirts.

"YEOW!" they both exclaimed, grabbing everyone's attention. Then the butler grabbed them from behind by the scruff of their necks, lifting them up off the ground.

"You again?" Atem gasped.

"Where'd you twerps come from?" Jonouchi demanded.

"Forgive me for not dealing with these two numskulls right away." Neville apologized, "Sometimes once a week, uninvited guests with overactive hormones would sneak into the mansion with rather… impure thoughts directed toward the mistress and her models."

"EWWW! I knew I felt something pulling at my dress!" Anzu cried in disgust.

"Thanks again for catching them before they could cause any trouble Neville." Mai replied.

"No problem." Neville replied, and then he eyed the two playboys. "And now gentlemen, I believe it is time for you to leave—and you'll be going out the same way you came in!" And with that, the butler tossed them out of the window.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAH!" they screamed as they fell, landing in the garbage. By some miracle, they both survived unscathed. Once more, they laid on their backs, swirls in their eyes.

"Ow! We should have known that butler was watching us!" Haga mumbled, "We were so close!"

"Don't worry." Ryuzaki replied, "We still have New York City Fashion Week." And once again, thoughts of beautiful, scantily-clad women danced in their heads, and they chuckled.

Meanwhile, back inside Mai's bedroom, Neville dusted his hands off in satisfaction. "Heh, serves them right." Jonouchi noted.

"In any case, I'm afraid our tour is over for the moment." Neville replied. "We don't want to be late for dinner now, do we?"

"Oh! Thank you so much for reminding us!" Mai gasped, and turned toward her boyfriend, "Are you ready to go?"

"Ready when you are Mai!" Jonouchi replied.

"Is there anything else I can help you with before you go?" Neville asked.

"Oh!" Anzu gasped, "Oh yes! Can you give us any suggestions for a nice restaurant?"

"Why of course, Lady Valentine." Neville answered, "Hmmm… well Milady, the first thing that pops into my head is the Summertelle. It's more of a supper club than a restaurant, but it's the best place to go for ballroom dancing. Plus, I just remembered that you're actually scheduled to go there anyway for your first public appearance."

"It's perfect!" Anzu replied. "Thank you Neville! You can skip the cocktails." And the two dates proceeded to make their departure.

"Thank you, sir," Atem stated, "And have a good evening."

"Likewise Atem." Neville replied. "You take care of yourselves out there!" Once the two pairs left, the maid approached the butler, who had a wistful look in his eye.

"It brings back a lot of memories from when you were younger, doesn't it?" she sighed happily.

"Ah yes." Neville replied with a smile. "I was quite a charmer back then. In fact, I believe I still got it. Perhaps I should start courting again; after all, I've never got the chance to find the right girl and actually get married."

"Oh Neville!" the maid stated cutely.

* * *

Outside in the mansion's parking lot, Yugi and his friends from Motel Joy were waiting in and near a small tour bus for the two dates to arrive. Slifer looked out from the top of the bus and noticed the two pairs coming out. "Yo! There they are!"

The others cheered as the couples made their approach. Needless to say, the ladies were surprised at seeing the extra company, if not amused. It was then that the younger twin stepped forward. "Hey, Atem!" he greeted. "It's about time you and Jonouchi came out!"

Anzu looked at Yugi, then at Atem, then back at Yugi with widening eyes before staring back at her date. "Atem… is it just me or is there two of you?"

"Oh, this is Yugi, my younger brother." Atem introduced, "And yes, we are identical twins."—he pointed at his own hair—"Hence the slight adjustment to my hairstyle."

"Oh!" Anzu replied in understanding. By then, Yugi had reached his older brother and had gotten a good look at the presumed fashion queen.

"So you must be Lady Valentine." He stated, "You're even prettier than I imagined. It's an honor to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you too Yugi!" Anzu greeted cheerfully.

"Whoa! Check out Jonouchi's new flame!" Obelisk called out, "She's a real hottie!"

"You're very lucky to have a lady like her, Jonouchi Mon!" Nautilus shouted, happy for his friend.

"Yeah! What he said!" Emeraude exclaimed.

"Are these your friends, Jonouchi?" Mai asked.

"Yeah," the sandy blonde replied, "Of course, I've known Honda and the Mutou twins longer than the rest of them."

"You guys hopping in?" Honda asked from the steering wheel. "The sooner we get to our destination, the sooner we can have some fun! Where are we going, by the way?"

"The Summertelle!" Atem replied.

"What a coincidence!" Coral exclaimed, "Nautilus and I are gonna perform there tonight! The timing couldn't be any more perfect!"

"And with Lady Valentine entering the public eye for the first time, I say this is going to be a great night!" Nautilus added. The couples nodded and went their way toward the tour bus.

"I like these guys already." Mai stated with a playful smirk.

"You do?" Jonouchi asked in confusion.

"Um, I suggest you take the front seats." Yugi suggested, "The back's already occupied." With that, everyone headed into the bus.

"Okay, let's hit the road!" Honda announced.

As the bus started moving, the band started chatting. "How about some traveling music Dudes?" Obelisk suggested loudly.

"Make it a love song!" Emeraude replied.

"All right, let's pop in a CD!" Slifer stated, taking out one in question. "Good thing we got a couple of serenades in our repertoire!"

Playing the role of a DJ, Nautilus took a microphone and announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, this song is dedicated to all those who hold love and passion in their hearts."

The gentle beat of the music echoed throughout the tour bus, bringing with it a warm tenderness. The lyrics were fitting, in fact, to how Atem felt for Anzu at that very moment. Jonouchi and Mai were expressing the same feelings for each other as well. The trip wasn't very long, but it was enough for the song to finish to the very last note. Before they even realized it, they had reached their intended destination. Everyone in the band cheered for the great time that was to come.

Note: The dates go underway in the next chapter, and love is in the air. Unfortunately, something is about to happen that will spoil the fun. And it involves a certain murderous thief and his accomplices! Until Next Time!


	7. Dates at the Summertelle

Note: And here we are at another fine chapter of this exciting story! In this chapter, the party at the Summertelle is going into full swing. However, Mai soon finds herself the center of many surprises... not all of them pleasant. Will her plan to catch the thief work with the help of Anzu? What will happen when she is forced to blow her cover? Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Dates at the Summertelle

The ritzy Summertelle was a supper club through and through, fit for high-class partygoers ages fifteen and up. Packs of people, young and old, were hanging out everywhere, chatting with each other, dining on expensive cuisine, or even doing some ballroom dancing in the center. All the heroes managed to get inside and take their seats; Slifer, Emeraude and Obelisk managed to change clothes to fit the formal dress code before entering, and the drummer in particular was doing his best not to get rowdy. It was routine for the band since they often go to supper clubs to see their friends Nautilus and Coral in their performances. Atem, Yugi, Anzu, Jonouchi, Mai and Honda took one round table, while the rest took another table nearby.

"Sweet!" Slifer stated with a smile, "Out of all the supper club venues that our friends get to perform at, this is the best one so far!"

"And at a time when Lady Valentine introduces herself to the public eye for the first time!" Emeraude added, "I'm excited just thinking about it!"

At the other table, each of the dates were scanning their orders. "You know, with a classy place like this, you'd think they'd have breadsticks on the table." Jonouchi noted.

"This isn't exactly a pizza parlor Jonouchi." Mai reminded him.

"I'm just saying." Jonouchi replied, blushing. Mai just smiled at her date, thinking about how cute he was when he blushed like that.

"Isn't it a delightful menu? I don't know what to choose!" Anzu stated. "Atem, what would you like to eat?"

"I don't know." Atem replied, "Let me have a look." The elder twin did take a look, but suddenly let out a gasp of shock.

"Is something wrong?"

"Uh no, I'm fine." Atem hastily answered, "It's just that the filet mignon is the same price as a Toyota Hybrid."

"So Lady Valentine," Yugi asked, "Do you come here often?"

"Only on special occasions." Anzu replied. "And uh… my debut in the public eye can be considered as such if you look at it that way."

"I think it's not the only special occasion going on here." Atem stated, staring into Anzu's sky blue eyes. The waiter approached the group at that moment, waiting patiently to take their orders.

Mai was the first to speak up. "Oh, hello. I'd like the champagne and caviar for an appetizer please."

"Hey Big Brother?" the younger twin whispered, "How are we going to pay for all this?"

"…I never considered that." Atem stated, growing a bit worried.

"I think Lady Valentine could handle this." Jonouchi stated quietly. "But just in case… Honda, I know you don't have $1600 dollars on you at the moment, but…"

"Don't worry." Honda reassured, getting up from out of his seat. "I got this taken care of. While we wait for Nautilus and Coral to get their funds, I'll get some extra cash." He lifted his paparazzi camera. "Besides, this is the perfect opportunity to test my camera… again." And with that the photographer went on his way. Soon he approached a rich looking couple. "Hello there." He greeted, "Would you like to have a Souvenir Photo? It's only 10 bucks a photo."

"Why of course." The woman replied, and her companion agreed. And they did a pose in which the couple was eating a strand of spaghetti like they were in the movie Lady and the Tramp.

"All right, smile!" Honda stated and he took the picture. "Thanks! Now I would like to have your name and address, and I'll send it to you once it's developed. If under any circumstances the photo fails to develop I'll send back the 10 bucks for a full refund." The photographer grinned to himself and thought, _This is actually fun! I could get used to this!_

Minutes later, while dinner was going on, Mai quickly noticed another couple making their entrance. Her eyes widened in shock. "What's wrong Mai?" Jonouchi asked as he was about to take another bite of the roast beef.

"Would you excuse me for a moment?" Mai replied, "I just saw someone I know. I'll be right back." And with that, she left the seat and rushed toward the couple.

Jonouchi looked up at that moment and he too had a look of shock. "Hey guys! It's Kaiba!" he gasped, pointing at the couple. "And that must be his new girlfriend!"

Indeed, there was the rich cousin of the Mutou Twins, dressed in a white tuxedo, with Kisara at his side. She was wearing a beautiful light blue ballroom gown decorated with sapphire sequins. She even had sapphire bracelets and a sapphire necklace. Inwardly, Mai sighed in relief when she managed to intercept the two of them, just in time. Kisara looked up and smiled when she saw her employer. "Hi! It's so nice to see you!"

"Nice to see you too, Kisara." Mai replied. "I presume this is the man who helped fund this year's New York City Fashion Week."

The blue eyed model turned toward her boyfriend with quiet pride. "Yep, this is the one. Seto, this is Mai Kujaku. She's better known as Lady Valentine."

"Oh, so you're the famous Lady Valentine everyone was talking about." Kaiba replied shaking her hand. "Pleased to finally see you in the flesh. And by the way, you've got such a lovely necklace."

"Yeah, I admit, it is breathtaking." Mai replied clutching her necklace.

"Anyway, I hope my cousin is treating you well." Kaiba stated.

"Your cousin?" Mai asked in confusion.

"Atem Mutou. You… are dating him, aren't you?"

"Oh! Actually, I'm dating Jonouchi Katsuya. But don't tell him that."

"What?" Kaiba gasped, "You're actually going out with the Mutt? But Atem told me that he was going out with you! Did you dump him or something?"

"I did no such thing! Besides, your cousin didn't ask me out in the first place." Mai growled, and pointed to the table where the group was sitting, and to Atem and Anzu in particular. "You see, thanks to some scheming on my part, he thinks she's Lady Valentine."

"Hey, it's Anzu!" Kisara gasped in amazement.

"So this is the girl my cousin fell head over heels for!" Kaiba mused, "Looks pretty enough to be the perfect fashion model."

The fashion queen smirked and replied, "She's a former receptionist of mine. 'Former', because very soon she's going to become my newest Valentine Model."

"Ah, I see that part. But I still don't get one thing. Why would you go about switching places with her and letting her play your role?"

"Let's just say we're both on a mission to catch a murderous thief by surprise."

Now the teen millionaire's lips curled into a smirk. "Oh… so you and your little friend are using deception to put that criminal to justice. That's very clever of you."

"It's a big risk considering how dangerous that thief is," Mai explained, "but if all goes well, we'll be able to strike them before they strike us. All they need to do is target Anzu and attempt to steal the diamond necklace. Then she'll clobber them before they knew what hit them! That's why we had to hide our true identities until then, even from our own dates."

"In that case, I'll keep that a secret as well." Kaiba replied. "If your plan succeeds, the story you'll bring about will definitely help Atem and Yugi top their last project."

With that all settled, Mai quickly returned to Jonouchi's side. The waiter approached the teen millionaire and his date. "Your table awaits." The waiter stated.

Kaiba took out a ten-dollar bill and gave it to his server. "Lead the way."

As they traveled toward their own seats, Kisara asked, "So when are you going to introduce me to your cousins?"

"Very soon Kisara." Kaiba replied. "In fact, I don't think it's going to be long. It appears we're going to sit very close to them."

Apparently, the Mutou twins had also taken notice. "Well, well, well, if it isn't our rich Loverboy." Atem stated with a smirk.

The teen millionaire blushed, but managed to reply smugly, "I think you're talking more about yourself Atem. Anyway, this is Kisara, the girl I was telling you about."

"Nice to meet you." Kisara greeted with a small bow. "Seto's told me so much about you guys."

"Nice to meet you too Kisara." Yugi replied. "I can really see that Kaiba has a soft spot for you. Anyway, have a seat." Indeed the couple sat down at their table, just as the duck entrée arrived.

"How is uh… Lady Valentine treating you so far?" Kisara asked, playing along with her employer's plan.

"Oh it's fantastic!" Atem replied.

"Yeah Hon, I swear the chemistry between us is getting stronger every minute!" Anzu added.

"Same thing for me and Mai." Jonouchi boasted.

"You know it's customary to give a tip to the waiter, Mutt," Kaiba snickered, "I bet you're so busy bragging about your lady that you forgot." The sandy blonde fumed at the insult.

"I did NOT forget Kaiba!" he barked, "I just don't have enough change, that's all!"

"Just spare change? That's lame. If I were you, I'd give 'em something bigger." Kaiba mocked, "Or maybe you left your wallet at home."

"Kaiba, you know damn well we're being underpaid." Atem snapped, "You don't need to rub it into our faces."

"Well, I heard that there are some people who left their wallets in college." Kisara mused innocently.

Luckily the others chose to ignore that comment and change the subject. "You know, those guys are really having a great time out in the dance floor." Obelisk noted.

Atem smiled, turning toward the presumed fashion queen. "He's got a point there, Lady Valentine." He stood up, surprising his date to no end, "I guess our dinner can wait. Would you like to have this dance with me?"

Anzu giggled, unable to believe her good fortune. "I'd love to!" she replied, taking his hand and rising up from her seat.

Meanwhile, Honda was busy trying to sell some more photo opportunities. "Hey there!" he greeted another rich couple, "Would you like to have a Souvenir Photo? It's only ten bucks a piece."

"Thank you, but no thanks." The man answered.

"Aw c'mon! It'll be a great memento for you and your wife!"

The man frowned a bit. "My wife isn't feeling good at the moment."

"Oh, that's too bad." Honda sighed, "Maybe she should stay at home."

"Um… she **is** at home."

"Then who's that woman sitting next to…" the photographer trailed off and sweatdropped, realizing exactly what his 'client' meant. "Why you cheating son of a… GRRR!" By then, his face was red as a beet with embarrassment and he spun around and shouted, "NEXT TABLE!"

Out at the dance floor, Atem and Anzu were having a great time doing the Quickstep. "I'm glad my friends convinced me to go through with ballroom dancing before I picked you up." Atem mused, "You're really an excellent dancer."

Anzu blushed and replied, "Why, thank you…"

It was at that moment that the elder Mutou twin decided to bring up his plans again. "So Lady Valentine, are you willing to talk about Mystique's theft and murder right now?" Seeing Anzu tense up and hesitate, however, Atem continued, "I know it disturbs you to think about it. If you want, we can always talk business another time. Besides, the night is young, the music is in the air and… oh, you're so beautiful…"

At first, Anzu didn't know what to do when he brought up the subject again. She was unsure if Mai had any of the same suspicions that she secretly had. But she wanted so badly to protect her friend. She decided to tell him. "Um, no, that's all right! I'm willing to talk."

"Okay." Atem replied. "Tell me everything you know."

"You may not realize this, but I got reason to believe that Mystique and uh… I have enemies from within our own business. One of my models, Vivian, used to work for Mystique, but was fired at the peak of her career. It didn't take long for me to discover why: she was vain, selfish and extremely jealous, complaining about every flaw in my fashions and mocking all of my other models, especially Kisara."

"Do you know what she looks like?"

"She's a Chinese girl, often wearing her hair in two buns."

Atem smirked. "I see… So it seems we got ourselves a suspect AND a possible motive."

"Well, she may not be the only suspect." Anzu replied, "I also have reason to suspect my second-in-command in the fashion business."

"Your second-in-command?"

"We simply know him as Bakura, and he rarely shows himself. He squandered half his family's inheritance on the gambling tables, and it was only at Mystique's insistence that I took him into the business. He seemed nice enough and he's got some charisma, but there seems to be something about him that I just don't trust."

"A man as mysterious as our murderous thief." Atem stated, "I guess it makes it all the more reason to investigate this matter further… and also to protect you. Don't worry. Whoever that monster turns out to be, I'll make sure they never lay a finger on you." He stared deeply into the eyes of the presumed fashion queen. "Did I mention that you have such radiant blue eyes?"

Anzu just smiled. "Well, your eyes put a blood red rose to shame."

At the table, Kaiba put some more cream into his coffee. "I heard that if you stir up enough cream, your coffee will taste like hot chocolate." Kisara suggested as her boyfriend stirred his drink.

"I highly doubt it." He replied.

Jonouchi took a look at his date and was surprised to see her moping. "Is something wrong Mai?"

Mai let out a surprised gasped, but then replied, "Oh, it's nothing."

"Well, it had to be something." Jonouchi insisted.

Defeated, Mai explained, "I'm just worried right now. I can't but feel as though that thief is lurking in this supper club, breathing down my neck."

"Huh?" Jonouchi asked in confusion.

"Oh—I-I mean Lady Valentine's neck!" the fashion queen quickly corrected. Luckily, the sandy blonde didn't catch the blunder.

"I understand you're concerned about your friend." he reassured, "But you got nothing to worry about. Even if the thief is stalking in the shadows, my own buddy's going to watch her back. He'll make sure she's safe."

Mai stared in amazement before the smile returned to her ruby red lips. "You're right. I shouldn't be worried at a time like this."

"Yeah, just relax and have a good time." Jonouchi stood up at that time. "In fact, how about we go out and dance."

"Great idea!" Mai replied, joining her date.

Unfortunately for the fashion queen, her own fears were soon to be justified. Standing unseen from a balcony, just behind the whole party, was a young man with long white spiky hair and blue eyes hinting evil intentions. He smirked as though in satisfaction, and quickly strolled through the crowd toward the double doors at the back.

* * *

Outside the Summertelle, a car drove up toward the back, mingling into the shadows. The license plate read 'KURA-5'. Varon, Marik and Vivian all stepped out, ready for action. The men were in their tuxedos and the Chinese model had donned her most desirable Vietnamese ball gown. "Here we are Mates." Varon announced, "Perfect night for a heist."

"Are you sure this is the place we can find Lady Valentine, Vivian?" Marik asked.

"Of course." Vivian replied with an evil smirk. "Why else would I have Master Bakura go ahead of us?" No sooner than she finished speaking than a figure appeared from the double doors. The man with white spiky hair and blue eyes approached the trio. "Oh, speak of the devil!" Vivian stated, "Hello Master."

The man, now revealed to be Bakura, returned a wicked smirk. "I managed to find our target. She is just as you described her."

"Oh, sure, it's easy for you to find her." Marik grumbled, "But we still have no idea as to what she looks like."

"That's why I'm going to have our newest member point her out for you." Bakura explained. "Keep into the shadows and surround the dance floor, and do not let her leave your sight. Varon, you go and kill the lights when I give you the signal. Tonight, the Summertelle will be painted with her blood."

"Got it Master!" Varon replied and turned toward his companions. "Let's get the show on the road!" And with that, the thieves all made their way to the club.

* * *

"I heard that Nautilus and Coral are going to come up soon!" Slifer noted.

The blue eyed model turned toward her boyfriend. "Seto, how about we go out there and join the others?" she suggested, "There's going to be a Viennese waltz coming up."

"She's got a point Kaiba." Yugi snickered.

Kaiba sighed and rose up to his feet. "All right. No use letting Atem and the Mutt get all the glory." Kisara giggled as she joined her lover.

"Geez." Yugi mumbled, "Everything had to be a competition for you when it comes to me or my brother."

Right at that same moment, the thieves managed to sneak inside. "Let's split up so we can avoid suspicion." Marik suggested.

"I'll find Lady Valentine." Vivian replied, "And when I do, I'll go meet you and point her out."

The two men nodded. And as the previous song came to a conclusion, the trio separated, each going in a different direction. Varon wandered around the club heading toward the dance floor. He watched as the Afro Asian vocalist and his girlfriend came up on stage. The whole club applauded at their appearance. Nautilus waved to the crowd, then nodded to the contemporary R&B band so they could start the song. It was a slow, romantic tune, and as Varon scanned the dance floor, he suddenly caught sight of a beautiful woman with light blonde hair and violet eyes. His own eyes widened in astonishment, for he realized that this woman was a very familiar face: A face that he just so happened to love for a long time. "…Mai?" It was at this moment Coral started the song:

"_**The first time you see him,**_

_**No bolt from the blue.**_

_**Just somethin' so quiet**_

_**That's waitin' for you.**_"

Mai looked deep into Jonouchi's hazel brown eyes, letting herself swim into its depths. Jonouchi gave her a warm smile, filled with deep love. She smiled with him, letting the lyrics of the melody sink into her mind.

"_**With no-one to tell you**_

_**Where you gotta go…**_

_**The first time it happens,**_

_**You'll know.**_"

Atem couldn't keep his eyes off the gentle beauty that danced in his arms. He soon heard Nautilus take his turn in the next verse, which somehow fit in so well with this very moment.

"_**The first time you see her,**_

_**No magical change,**_

_**No angels appearing,**_

_**No dreams to arrange.**_"

Anzu leaned onto the shoulder of the elder twin, savoring his loving warmth.

"_**But it's warmer than springtime,**_

_**Yet crisper than snow.**_

_**The first time it happens,**_

_**You'll know.**_"

Soon the three couples began to twirl around as both vocalists joined together, their voices melding in beautiful harmony.

"_**And so you fall,**_

_**Oh, how complete it is!**_

_**And with each moment that it lasts,**_

_**How sweet it is!**_"

As Yugi, Slifer, Emeraude and Obelisk watched the whole scene, the younger Mutou twin couldn't help but smile at his older brother. True, there was some slight jealousy toward Atem, due to the fact that Yugi was also starting to have feeling toward Anzu. But those jealous thoughts were very small and insignificant; they hardly made a single impact in the younger twin's heart, for on the whole, he was happy for him. The duet continued.

"_**The first time together,**_

_**How simple and rare.**_"

Soon Coral went solo on the next line.

"_**And it's just when you thought you**_

_**Forgot how to care!**_"

Kaiba thought about how well the verse fit in with his own life. Although he was loathe to admit it to the rest of his family, it was Kisara that had indeed reminded him that there was still room for kindness and love in his heart. He was afraid to admit it, but he had fallen for this blue eyed beauty in his arms, and fallen hard. And it was described perfectly when Nautilus did the solo on his next line.

"_**And though you feel much more**_

_**Than you dare to show,**_"

Once more, the two vocalists united in a duet to finish their song:

"_**The first time it happens,**_

_**You'll know!**_"

The three couples spun around in joyous dance, until they all reached the center. "Wow!" Emeraude gasped, "These guys are fantastic!"

It was then that Kaiba shouted to his cousin. "How about we make things more interesting! Let's see which couple can do the best dance!"

"You got yourself a challenge Kaiba!" Jonouchi shouted back, eager to kick the teen millionaire's butt.

Atem smirked confidently. "You're on!" The ladies all smiled in agreement, and so the 'competition' started. The band adjusted the song so that it resembled the music of the first dance: a tango. It was gracefully intense, as each couple did their best to top the two others. And for good measure, the three men each lifted up their lovely women, enjoying a 'Broadway moment' as the other dancers surrounded them and added to the affect. The audience in their tables were all mesmerized by the spectacle as Atem, Jonouchi and Kaiba returned their paramours to the ground.

"WOO! Now that's a great number!" Slifer shouted excitedly.

"Go get 'em Big Brother!" Yugi cheered.

Meanwhile, Varon was standing there in loving bewilderment, staring at his dream girl as she was dancing with another man. At that moment, Vivian began to approach him. "Ah, there you are! I've been looking all over for you!"

But the biker was hardly paying any attention. He just kept watching Mai, listening to her laugh as he savored the dance. His heart fluttered, and his mind was filled with memories of the past, of all the times he spent with her. "It's been so long." He finally sighed, and he suddenly stepped out of the shadows toward her.

"H-hey! HEY!" Vivian shouted angrily, "Get back here, you idiot!" But of course, her commands fell on deaf ears.

"Not bad!" Atem replied to his cousin, "But I suppose it's my turn to switch things up a bit for round two: a Foxtrot!" The three couples proceeded with the dance, twirling once before the ladies broke from their dates to do a graceful solo spin. Before Mai could get a chance to return to her partner, however, she soon found herself face to face with a very familiar face, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Care to dance?" Varon asked gently.

"Varon?" she gasped.

Varon just smiled lovingly at the fashion queen. "Long time no see, love."

"B-but what are you doing here?" Mai asked hurriedly, "I haven't seen you since you ran away from the Wart Hogs!"

"That doesn't matter." Varon replied, holding her in his arms, "What's past is past. We got plenty of catching up to do." He started blushing. "Besides, me feelings for you have yet to change." And with that, he and Mai started dancing together. Although admittedly, Mai was reluctant to do so; she never saw the biker as anything more than a friend. Her heart belonged to Jonouchi.

"V-Varon, you know I'm going out with someone else." Mai tried to explain, "Are you really so thickheaded?"

"I prefer to call it persistent." Varon replied lovingly.

Suddenly, Jonouchi barged in between the biker and Mai, much to the fashion queen's relief. "Hey! Hands off, will ya?" the sandy blonde barked, and Varon immediately backed away. The sandy blonde then spun around to face his date, a small glare written upon his face. "What's the deal, Mai?" he whispered.

"N-nothing…" Mai quickly replied, "I'll explain later."

"Atem," Anzu stated to her date, "I know something that can lead us to victory."

"If it's what I think it is," Atem replied with a smirk, "Then let's do this!" Fortunately, both lovers had one thing in mind. They started clearing to ballroom floor of other dancers.

"All right, what are you planning?" Kaiba shouted. He didn't have to wait long for the answer. Immediately, Atem and Anzu broke into their third dance: the jive. And it proved to be their ace in this little dance competition; it truly was like watching a great Broadway number. And as a finishing move, Anzu began to spin like a ballerina with nearly the speed of a top, amazing even her boyfriend. Then at the end she lifted her arms and let herself fall backward into the elder Mutou twin's gentle grasp, striking a pose as she did so. The crowd applauded wildly.

"Okay, okay, you win." Kaiba muttered. "At least let us do an encore for everybody, okay?" And so they did. One by one, each of the three couples did a quickstep. First was Kaiba and Kisara in their flamboyance. Then came Jonouchi and Mai who performed at the bridge at the catchy song, although the fashion queen once again caught a glimpse of Varon, who was watching in the crowd. Finally, Atem and Anzu wowed the audience with the most amazing closing number. Before anyone knew it, the song was over, and so was the dance. There was a standing ovation, and the couples took a bow.

"That was great you guys!" Yugi called out from his table.

"Aw man!" Honda gasped in excitement, "I just gotta take a photo of this!"

Meanwhile, during all this commotion, Varon continued to stare at his dream girl. Suddenly, Vivian and Marik came up from behind and yanked him away from the crowd. "You idiot! What the hell were you thinking?" Vivian hissed. "Do you realize who that is?"

"Of course!" Varon replied, "She's Mai Kujaku, the love of me life! We go way back!"

"Oh boy…" Marik muttered, slapping his own forehead in exasperation.

"Anyway, did you find Lady Valentine?" Varon asked.

"Yeah, we found her." Marik answered.

"Great!" Varon stated enthusiastically, "Where is that bitch?"

Right at that moment, Bakura approached the trio. "She was right in front of you Varon… and you danced with her."

Varon's smile was immediately wiped off his face, replaced with a look of horrified shock. He turned to look at the fashion queen, then faced his fellow thieves again. "Mai…? Y-you mean… she's…?" Bakura nodded in confirmation. "N-no!" Varon gasped, shaking his head, "No, she can't be! There's no way she's Lady Valentine! You've got to be mistaken!"

"Are you kidding?" Vivian replied, "There's absolutely no mistaking the bitch who fired me! She's the one!"

Varon just kept staring in shock, unable to believe that the target of their current heist was the same woman who captured his heart. "You know what to do." Bakura commanded. "This is the time when the guys on stage makes their announcement and introduces Lady Valentine to the world. When they say her name, that's when you kill the lights. Then you will help me retrieve the necklace while I finish her off." The biker hesitated, staring back at Mai. The Master Thief glared at him. "Well, go on! Get to your positions!"

"You heard him, Varon get to it!" Marik yelled.

"Uh… R-right." Varon stuttered, before he ran to light switches. As the thieves took their positions, Nautilus took up his microphone and began to speak.

"Thank you so much for coming tonight, Ladies and Gentlemen. As you know, we at the Helping Hands Foundation work hard to make the world a better place to live in. Your donations make a big difference in the lives of those who live in poverty, providing them with food, shelter, education, clean water, and most of all a chance at a better life in the years to come. And we appreciate it." The audience enthusiastically gave a round of applause, for many of the Summertelle's guests support the Helping Hands wholeheartedly. "And now, the moment you all have been waiting for!" Nautilus announced looking down at Atem and Anzu. "Her chic fashions and beautiful models are known far and wide across the globe, yet no one knows the face behind this famous name. Well, starting tonight, all that is about to change. For the first time in the eyes of the world, I present to you the partner of the late Mystique, the sultry queen of fashion herself: Lady Valentine!"

Right at that moment, a now reluctant Varon flipped the switch, cutting off the power. In an instant, the whole supper club was dark. "Ah!" Anzu gasped, and Atem immediately wrapped his arms protectively around his date.

"What's going on?" Atem shouted.

"Seto, I'm scared!" Kisara cried, hugging her boyfriend.

"Don't worry Kisara." The teen millionaire reassured "I'm here."

"Who turned out the lights?" Mai shouted.

"I don't know," Jonouchi replied, "but maybe I can help a bit. I don't have a flashlight, so I'll just go for the next best thing. HONDA! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"OVER HERE!" Honda exclaimed.

Jonouchi followed the voice of his friend and then requested, "Hand over your camera, would you?"

"Uh, sure." Honda replied, and began to rush over. Since it was so dark, however, he found himself stepping on people's feet. And those people were not afraid to let him know.

"Ow!"

"Watch where you're going!"

"Oops, sorry!" Honda stated. "Here Jonouchi! Catch!"

Right at the moment the photographer tossed his camera to the sandy blonde, Mai suddenly felt a hand pull her back and clutch her diamond necklace. Another pair of hands grabbed at her hair and covered her mouth, and her eyes widened when she felt a pistol being pressed against her head. She soon heard a masculine voice whisper in her ear. "Goodbye, Lady Valentine."

"All right!" Jonouchi shouted, aiming the camera, "Let there be light!" And with that, he flashed the camera right towards his girlfriend. Imagine his shock when, for a brief moment, the flashing light revealed four figures right behind Mai—one of whom was holding a gun aimed at the side of her head! Bakura, startled and angered by this unexpected turn of events, aimed his pistol elsewhere and shot it in a different direction. The bullet struck a small aquarium, and there was the sound of shattering glass, followed seconds later by spilling water and a shout of pain. Panic ensued among the crowd. The Master Thief cursed under his breath, for the killing blow meant for Mai was utterly wasted. He ripped the necklace off of her neck and handed the loot to Varon, who put it in the bag Vivian was holding. Realizing the gig is up, Marik shoved the fashion queen to the floor. The deed was botched, but it was done; the four thieves fled immediately, and Mai let out a scream of terror. Only then did the lights finally come back on. It was a horrible sight! Mai was lying helplessly on hands and knees, having barely escaped the attack that had just come upon her. But at the table where the Yugi sat, the situation was even worse. The aquarium behind them was destroyed, and Yugi, Slifer, Emeraude and Obelisk all drenched. But that's not what shocked the rest of their friends. Two large shards of glass were imbedded in Obelisk's left arm, and the resulting wounds were bleeding profusely.

"Obelisk!" Slifer exclaimed in horror, "Are you all right?"

"AUGH!" Obelisk grunted, cradling his arm. "I'm okay Dude! No broken bones. I still could use a bandage though! OW!"

"Hold still!" Emeraude stated to the drummer, using a napkin to bind his wounds. "Try not to move any further!"

Back on the dance floor, Jonouchi stared at the paparazzi camera in shock. _Aw man!_ He thought, _Something big just happened… and I actually caught it on film!_ But the unexpected photo would have to wait, for he immediately grew concerned for his date. He ran over to her side. "Mai! Mai, what happened? Are you okay?"

Tears began to form in Mai's eyes as she clutched the neckline where her diamond necklace used to be. Her plan to catch the murderous thief had failed in the most unexpected way possible. "No Jonouchi… I'm not okay!" Then she suddenly stood up and rushed toward Anzu and her date.

"M-Mai!" Jonouchi gasped, trying to go after her.

"Oh Hon, are you all right?" Anzu asked, and she gasped in shock. "Oh no! Your necklace! Someone stole your neckla-"

"YOU CAN CUT THE ACT NOW!" Mai interrupted, shocking Atem and Anzu to no end. "The thief saw right through us." With that, she hurried over to the stage.

"Cut the act now?" Atem repeated in confusion, facing his date, "What is she talking about?"

"Oh no! That's not good!" Kaiba muttered, realizing what's going on. Mai grabbed hold of the microphone, making a noise on the amplifier as she did so.

"May I have your attention please?" Mai stated in the speaker. The whole room grew quiet, and all eyes were on her. "I have an important announcement to make… although, for some… it's more of a confession." She took a deep breath. Like it or not, it's time to come clean. "To those of you who don't already know… I… am Mai Kujaku. Otherwise known… as Lady Valentine." There was a surprised gasp coming from the crowd, but their shock was not as great as that of the people whom she had befriended. Especially Jonouchi… and of course, Atem. The elder twin turned toward Anzu—and found a mixed expression of shock and guilt upon her face. "As you have noticed," Mai continued, "I have been attacked by a mysterious thief—the same thief that had killed my partner, Mystique. Sure, I managed to survive, but still… after having such a close encounter…" By now, the fashion queen was in tears. "Please, excuse me." And with that, she left the stage in a hurry. Once more, Jonouchi chased after her and this time he managed to catch up with her.

"Mai…" he gasped, "What you said on stage… Is it true? It's not true, is it? Are you really…?"

Mai spun around to face the man of her dreams. Deep sorrow and regret was in her eyes. "Yes Jonouchi. It's true." She closed her eyes and her tears began to flow. "I'm sorry." And once again she fled, too afraid to face the sandy blonde now that the truth is out. Jonouchi just stood there, unable to believe what just happened.

"C'mon Kisara, let's get out of here." Kaiba suggested. "You never know when those attackers would come back." Kisara was too horrified to speak at the moment, so she simply nodded and let the teen millionaire lead her out of the supper club.

Meanwhile, Yugi and Honda joined with their friends on stage. Slifer and Emeraude supported Obelisk as they did the same, having dressed his wound in a makeshift bandage. Everyone stared at the real fashion queen as she left the building… and they were stunned. "Whoa…!" Coral gasped, "Can you believe it?"

"To think that all this time, it was Jonouchi Mon who was dating Lady Valentine, and not Atem Mon!" Nautilus replied.

"Yeah, she fooled everybody!" Slifer added.

"Well, at least one good thing came out of it." Honda stated, "In the attempt to bring some light in a dark room, Jonouchi actually took a photo of that murderous thief we've been looking for! Now we can figure out exactly who it is!"

"Hey hold up Dudes!" Obelisk interrupted. "If that chick dating Jonouchi was Lady Valentine,"—he pointed outward—"then who's that chick dancing with Atem?" Everyone turned to find Atem and Anzu facing each other, and all at once Yugi could feel the growing tension coming from his brother.

Atem just couldn't believe it. The girl of his dreams was standing right before him… and she was not who she claimed she was. At first, he stared at her in shock. Then finally he spoke. "Lady Valentine… The whole time…" He spun to where Jonouchi was standing. "She was dating Jonouchi…" He spun back to face the model-to-be once again, "And I thought you were…!" Anzu shook in fear, realizing exactly what was coming next. The elder twin also began to shake, but out of rage as the bitter feelings of betrayal began to overwhelm him. "How could you… you…" At that moment, he exploded. "YOU **FRAUD**! YOU LIED TO ME! YOU USED ME!"

Anzu blue eyes brimmed with tears. "P-please Atem," she whimpered, reaching out to him. "I can explain!"

"NO!" Atem roared as he struck her hand away from him, his voice filled with venom. "GET OUT MY SIGHT! I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU IN MY PRESENCE AGAIN!" Anzu began to back away, and her tears cascaded down her cheeks. "OUT!" Atem repeated. And that was it. Anzu buried her face in her hands and ran away, sobbing.

"Wait!" Yugi shouted, speeding past his twin in an attempt to catch up with her. "Come back! He didn't mean to…!" But she had already gone through the doors and she never came back in. The younger Mutou twin stared in disbelief before finally looking down. There on the ground was the only trace of the model-to-be: a single glass slipper. He picked it up, holding it with great care in his hands. He turned toward the elder twin… and glared at him. "Atem… you ought to be ashamed of yourself!"

Atem gave no reply, and instead walked the other way.

* * *

Outside the Summertelle, Anzu sat on a lonely set of stairs. Her head was buried in her arms, her heartbroken sobs echoing in the night air. Her left foot was bare, for she had lost one of her glass slippers in her haste to leave. But losing a glass slipper didn't matter to her; she was too distracted by her broken heart. Just then, Mai stepped into view. The disheartened fashion queen bent down near her friend. "Anzu? I've just called Neville. He's coming over to pick us up, okay?"

The model-to-be lifted her head. The tears were practically streams on her cheeks. "I should have told him the truth from the start, Mai. Now he doesn't want to see me again! He hates me!"

Mai sat down by the young model-to-be. "When I see you this way, I can't help but think that it's all my fault. I was the one who suggested that we switch places in the first place… and when the thief came and attacked me, I was the one who blew our cover."

"How could you say that?" Anzu stated, "We didn't even know that the thief has seen you before! And besides… even if we did catch them by surprise, it's not gonna change anything. Atem would still…" The tears started to build up as once again, Anzu started to break down in sorrow.

Seeing this wrapped an arm around the model-to-be and let her cry on her shoulder. "I know how you feel. That's the very reason why I'm afraid to face Jonouchi now: I'm afraid that he might feel the same way about me. I'm so sorry Anzu." And the two friends sat side by side, waiting sadly for their limo to arrive.

Note: Oh no! Bakura and his gang of thieves ruined everything! Luckily, in the next chapter, the photo that exposed them is developed. Later, Atem, Yugi, and Jonouchi reunite with Mai, the real Lady Valentine, and discover the reason for her undercover charade with Anzu. We also learn some interesting things about our fashion queen and her past as a member of the Wart Hogs. Who are the Wart Hogs, and what do they have to do with Varon, who is now growing increasingly reluctant in his role as a Bakura's accomplice? Until Next Time!


	8. Evidence

Note: Here we are again my friends, the latest chapter in this fine story! I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but... SunrisePhoenix, we're gonna have that prison scene all right-but not in the way you think it'll happen! But lets get back to the story, shall we? Our heroes soon bring out the photographic evidence, but what happens to it is very different from what happens in the movie. It's best to see for yourself. Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Evidence

Back in Motel Joy the following morning, the four heroes were busying themselves developing the photos that they had taken from last night. Well, three of them at least; Atem was sulking in the corner, still feeling bitter and angry about the events that took place the previous night. Due to the fact that Honda's camera was an old fashioned paparazzi camera, they had no choice but to use a dark room to develop their work properly. And to make matters worse, they had to use one of the motel's bathrooms to do the job—and it so happened to be one of the three bathrooms in the entire motel that actually work. Of course, that didn't stop Yugi and Honda from enjoying the process. A few of their friends decided to watch as well, particularly Slifer, Emeraude, and of course Raphael. Slifer let out an impressed whistle. "You guys did great with these color photos." He complimented, "Especially with the one Jonouchi took of the thieves that attacked the real Lady Valentine. I mean, seriously! He managed to catch them on film right before the stray bullet shattered the aquarium!"

"Thanks buddy." Jonouchi answered. "I just wish we had a digital camera instead of what we got. Developing the photos would be much easier that way."

"Yeah, but I had to admit even old-fashioned photography is an art." Replied Yugi cheerfully as he shed light on the photos that were already dry. "With such a delicate process you have to have the right film and the right exposure."

"And sometimes you got to scream before the food gets into their mouth." Honda teased.

"Honda!" Emeraude barked.

"Just kidding!" the photographer stated hurriedly.

As Yugi placed the photo evidence into the vat of solution, Raphael mused, "Speaking of the real Lady Valentine, I knew there was something familiar about her when I heard her name."

"You really know Mai?" Jonouchi asked in interest.

"Yeah." Raphael replied, taking out a photo of his own. It depicted Mai in a sexy biker's outfit, with Raphael and Amelda posing to the right of her… and on her left was a forth young man, one that Jonouchi found all too familiar. All of them had motorcycles decorated with a wild hog. "Along with Amelda and myself," he explained, "she used to be part of a biker gang called the Wart Hogs. We ruled the road back in those days. With her reputation as a fashionista, I guess it's no surprise that she would go into the fashion business."

"You mind telling us about this guy over there?" Jonouchi asked, pointing to the familiar young man standing by the fashion queen.

"That's Varon." Raphael answered, "He was also a member of the Wart Hogs, and although he has a hard time getting along with Amelda, he was a great friend to all of us. He was especially fond of Mai; you might say that he was in love with her. The thing is, he left the Wart Hogs without any explanation one day; the rest of us disbanded soon after." The sandy blonde glared at the picture, and Raphael blinked, figuring it out. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

"ERK! NO!" Jonouchi barked in shock.

The military man chuckled. "Right…"

Right at moment there was a knock on the door. "What's going on in there?" Amelda called out. "You're taking an awfully long time to go to the bathroom!"

"Oh! We're busy developing the pictures right now." Yugi replied.

"Yeah, we got some souvenir photos on the works and we got a murderous jewel thief to catch!" Honda added, "We'll be out as soon as we're finished."

"Well then hurry up!" Nautilus shouted, "Two of the bathrooms are already occupied, and Obbie Mon will be approaching any minute! Even as I speak, he's rushing up the stairs, bouncing up and down with one leg and holding his crotch!"

"Uh-oh, that's not good." Slifer muttered worriedly, "Obelisk is getting desperate!"

"All right Nautilus, we'll pick up the pace!" Jonouchi answered. "No doubt that picture I've taken can tell us who attacked Mai and stole her necklace!"

Atem turned his head toward his friend. "If you want my opinion." He finally stated with a growl, "I say that impostor was responsible. That bitch. The moment I saw those blue eyes from behind the killer's gas mask on the day Mystique was killed… I should have known!"

"What?" Yugi gasped, shocked by what his brother had said. "How could you say such a thing? She did not attack Mai and steal her necklace!"

"She lied to us Yugi!" Atem bellowed, "I thought we could trust her, but she took us for fools! She was just waiting for the opportunity to murder the real Lady Valentine!"

"Just because she lied about being Lady Valentine doesn't mean she would just stab Mai in the back and run off with her diamond necklace!" Yugi snapped, growing angry.

"Your brother's right, Tem." Jonouchi explained, "That girl was busy dancing with you! She can't dance and steal at the same time, much less make an attempt to kill Mai in the process!"

"Even if she didn't do the attack herself, what makes you certain she didn't plan that assault by distracting us?" the elder twin roared, "She likely hired someone to do the dirty work; if Jonouchi flashed the camera any later, Mai would be dead!"

"What makes you certain that she would do such a horrible thing?" Yugi bellowed, stepping close to Atem's face. "She's innocent, Atem! You're just upset because you found out that she was pretending to be someone she's not! Believe me, I was just as shocked as you are, but that's no excuse to make such pointless accusations! ESPECIALLY IF THEY'RE NOT TRUE!"

"WHY YOU INGRATEFUL LITTLE…!" Unable to contain his fury, Atem finally lunged at his younger brother.

Just in time, Emeraude rushed over and pushed the twins apart. "STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU! The development of that photo is just about finished, and you're wasting time by fighting amongst yourselves!"

"Emeraude's right you guys." Slifer added, "And besides, the real Lady Valentine lied to us about being someone else too!"

"OH NO! HERE COMES OBELISK!" Coral screamed from behind the door. It was not long before the heroes could hear the drummer's panicked voice.

"AW MAN, NOT THAT ONE TOO! N-NAUTIE! HOW LONG IS THIS BATHROOM GONNA BE OCCUPIED?"

"Uh, hold on a minute Obbie Mon! Yugi Mon and the others will be finished in just a minute!" Nautilus tried to explain.

"TELL THAT TO MY BLADDER!" Obelisk cried.

"I hope you got those pictures developed by now guys!" Nautilus shouted through the door, "Because at this rate, Obbie Mon would actually knock down this door as a last resort! Hurry!"

"Right!" Yugi replied hurriedly and sped to one of the vats… the one containing the evidence that would clear things up. Taking the newly-developed photo, the eyes of the younger Mutou twin grew wide. "HEY! HERE IT IS!" Soon everyone gathered around to take a look, even the elder Mutou twin. To say that they were surprised was an understatement! There, in the photo, was Bakura, Marik, Varon and Vivian, all in the process of committing what would have been their latest bloody deed. Marik was covering Mai's mouth with one hand and clutching her hair with the other. Bakura had a firm grip on the fashion queen's necklace, ready to yank it off and hand it to Varon and Vivian, all while he was pointing his gun at her head!

"Well I'll be!" Honda gasped, "One murderous thief is bad enough as it is… but from what I'm seeing, we've got ourselves a conspiracy!"

"Hey! I've seen those three before!" Jonouchi shouted, "They were at Valentine Fashions! And that guy in particular had the nerve to dance with Mai!"

Raphael's shock knew no bounds when he saw the biker Jonouchi was pointing at. "It's Varon! But… but that not possible! True, he may have a criminal record dating back to when he was nine years old, but he would go this far… would he?"

"I'm more concerned with the guy aiming the gun." Honda stated, pointing to Bakura, "I got a feeling he's the one that we saw pulling the first job in Tokyo!"

Atem stared long and hard at the photograph, especially at Bakura and Vivian. His eyes widened with shock as he recalled what Anzu had told him in her guise as Lady Valentine. Specifically, about the Chinese Model holding the bag.

"**One of my models, Vivian, used to work for Mystique, but was fired at the peak of her career.**

"…**She was vain, selfish, and extremely jealous…**

"**She's a Chinese girl, often wearing her hair in two buns.**"

"_That Lady Valentine impostor… she was telling the truth!_" And as his eyes shifted to Bakura, the elder Mutou twin immediately recognized a pair of icy blue eyes… eyes that held a glint of evil within them, eyes he saw behind a gas mask back in Tokyo! "You're right Honda," Atem stated, "This man is the mysterious thief we saw back home!"

"Well, it looks like he's not so mysterious anymore!" Yugi stated triumphantly, "Because now we got all their hands stuck in the cookie jar!"

"Aw yeah! We did it!" Jonouchi shouted joyfully. All those thoughts were immediately interrupted with the loud banging of the bathroom door—giving the four young reporters and their friends good reason to worry.

"DUUUDES!" Obelisk screamed in panic, "I GOTTA GO TO THE BATHROOM! I CAN'T HOLD IT IN MUCH LONGER!"

Atem spun to face his younger brother. "Well don't just stand there Yugi! If Obelisk breaks down the door now, that cookie jar you speak of will be busted in an instant!"

"Leave it to me Big Brother!" Yugi declared, taking out a small box. "This is where my portable dark room comes in…" As he began to unlatch the box, he soon found himself struggling. "C'mon, C'MON!" Finally, he managed to pry the box open. Quickly he laid the still damp photograph in the center, then slammed the box shut. "I got it! Now we can celebrate!"

"WOO! Just in time!" Slifer rejoiced.

"WAIT!" Honda exclaimed suddenly, "DON'T SHUT IT YET!" The young photographer eyed a still-drying set of pictures hanging on the wires, all in a state of panic. "WE CAN'T FORGET MY SOVENIR PHOTOS!"

Unfortunately for Honda, he spoke too late. Suddenly Obelisk burst through the door, bringing all the unwanted light into the makeshift darkroom. Ignoring the surprised occupants, he veered to the right to find an empty toilet, much to his relief. "I'M SAVED!" he shouted, "WHEW!"

"W-WAIT! SOMEBODY! ANYBODY! SHUT THE DOOR!" Honda exclaimed, but right before his eyes all of his beloved pictures turned blank and black; they were instantly destroyed. "NOOOOOOOO!" he screamed in anguish, shedding a waterfall of tears, "MY SOVENIR PHOTOS!" Next thing everyone knew, the photographer was bawling like a baby. "ALL MY HARD WORK… GONE!"

"True." Jonouchi stated, before turning his eyes toward the secured portable darkroom with a smile. "But we managed to save what's really important."

* * *

Later that day, amidst the peaceful atmosphere of Riverside Park, Mai approached a hot dog stand. "Welcome!" greeted the vendor, "Is there anything you'd like to have?"

"Just a cup of diet soda would be fine." Mai answered. Of course, she was anything but cheerful. How could she be? She failed to beat her attacker in their own game. And because of that, she was forced to blow her cover. Don't get her wrong, she didn't regret her undercover masquerade… she regretted not trusting Jonouchi enough to let him in on the secret from the beginning. And now it's possible that she's lost him. Those thoughts were interrupted when the vendor handed her a cup of the soda she ordered. "Thanks." She replied, handing him a couple of dollars. "Keep the change." The fashion queen proceeded to walk away, sipping her diet soda. Right at that moment, Atem, Yugi and Jonouchi all approached her from behind!

"Well, well, well!" Jonouchi remarked in a sarcastic tone, "If it isn't the REAL Lady Valentine!"

Startled by the sandy blonde's voice, Mai spun around to face them. But quickly, her shock gave way to depression. "Oh!... Uh, hi." She stated sullenly.

"Well, I'm not surprised you would react this way." Jonouchi reasoned in a serious tone, "You lied right to our faces! And what's worse, you almost got yourself killed because of those lies! If I had flashed my friend's camera any later, you would have died last night!"

Mai's tear streamed quietly down her cheeks. "I'm sorry Jonouchi. I really am. I didn't expect things to turn out this way."

"If you didn't know that you'll be attacked, why did you do this in the first place?" Yugi asked.

"Yes." Atem added. "You pretended to be one of your own models, all while a stranger distracted us by pretending to be you! Why did you let that girl take your place and deceive us?" In all honesty, the elder Mutou twin was still a bit upset about Anzu's deception. However, after seeing the photographic evidence that proved her innocence, he just had to find out the reason.

Mai lifted her head and sighed, "Because I asked her to." The three young men let out a gasp of surprise, especially Atem. "Atem, that girl who went on a date with you was a dear friend of mine, even outside the fashion business. I knew that the thief was after me, and she was worried for me. But I thought that since no one had seen me in public before, the thief would not know either. So I came up with a plan to switch places with my friend, letting her play the role of Lady Valentine. In that way, we were hoping to deceive the thief and put them to justice ourselves."

"And… your friend accepted your proposal to this plan?" Atem gasped.

"Yes. She may not look like it, but she's a great fighter when she needs to be. And besides, she was one of the few people in my business I know I can trust. In a way, we're kind of like sisters. We both hoped that the thief would attempt attack her so she could catch them off guard."

"Wow!" Yugi gasped in amazement, "To think what it would have been like if your plan actually worked! I mean, you guys fooled everybody!"

"…Except the one person we wanted to fool."

"The thief." Jonouchi stated.

Mai turned toward the sandy blonde in what the latter figured was shame. "Don't get me wrong. I didn't want to lie to any of you about my identity. Especially you, Jonouchi. I am so ashamed of myself because I just didn't trust you enough to let you in on the secret… and I really wanted to be with you."

Right then, Jonouchi tensed up at those words. "You know, that reminds me… If you really love me, then why did you go about dancing with that other guy last night?"

The fashion queen's eyes widened with shock. "Y-you mean Varon?"

"Yeah, Varon." Jonouchi stated, taking out the photo Raphael had given him. She gasped at the sight of her Wart Hog days.

"Wh-where did you get that?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"One of your old buddies gave it to me." Jonouchi replied, "They told me a bit about Varon and how at one time he was madly in love with you!"

She bowed her head. "It's true. Varon was an old friend of mine, and he's always got this crazy idea that I'm the girl of his dreams. I never saw him since he left the Wart Hogs for who knows what reason, so when I saw him at the Summertelle, I was taken by surprise! To think that after all this time, he's still in love with me! But I assure you Jonouchi, I never saw him as anything more than a friend!"

"Well I hope that's the case Mai." Jonouchi replied with a glare, "What would you think if I told you that your old flame from the Wart Hogs happens to be in cahoots with a murderous jewel thief?"

Mai gasped in utter shock. Her old friend and one time fellow Wart Hog, a jewel thief? It was hard for her to believe! But soon she grew angry. "Are you saying that because you're jealous?" she snapped.

"N-NO! I'm not saying that because I'm jealous!" Jonouchi retorted, "Of course, I can't say that I'm not jealous, but that's beside the point! I'm telling you this because it's the truth! Don't believe me? We got proof!" On cue, Atem handed the photo evidence of the attack over to his friend. "Remember me using that camera to shed some light to the dark last night?" Jonouchi asked. "Well, this is what that camera caught on film!" And with that, he handed the evidence over to the fashion queen. There was clear horror in her eyes the moment she saw that familiar scene, all caught on film. Clear as daylight, she saw the faces of her attackers, the very people who stole her necklace… but what shocked her the most was that she recognized those faces.

"Oh my God…! Oh my God!" She gasped, "This can't be!"

After a slight pause, Atem finally asked her, "Do you know any of these people?"

"H-how could I not know them?" Mai replied, "Marik and Vivian were former models who worked for Mystique! And Vivian used to work for me before I fired her! Oh God, no wonder they were able to point me out so easily when no one else has seen me before… she knew too much!" She pointed to the main jewel thief in the photo. "As for this man, that's Bakura, my second in command! We hardly ever see each other, not even on the day I gave him this job at Mystique's insistence. Thinking back to that very moment when the lights went out in the Summertelle… I knew there was something familiar about the voice that whispered to me! He must be the one that killed my business partner! My models were right not to trust him!" Her eyes returned to the image of Varon, reaching out to retrieve her stolen necklace. "But Varon… Why? Why would he do this? Why would he join forces with this murderer? After all the times we shared with the other Wart Hogs?"

"I guess that's the one mystery we have yet to solve, above all things." Yugi reasoned, "From what Raphael had told us, he seemed to be a good guy."

The fashion queen sighed, and handed back the photograph. "In any case, I'm glad you showed this to me. Now I know who to look out for. Once tonight's fashion show is done, I'll expose those thieves to the public in my thank-you speech. And as an extra precaution, I'll have the Millennium Diamond placed in the Marquis Gallery."

"Millennium Diamond?" Jonouchi queried.

"People say it's the most valuable diamond ever possessed by the fashion industry." Mai explained, "But to me and Mystique, it's a token of friendship, both inside the business and outside. And now that she's dead, it's become a precious memento. There is no doubt in my mind that those thieves would do anything to get their hands on that diamond… even kill."

The three heroes just stared for a moment. But then Jonouchi smiled. "I'm glad we could help you… Lady Valentine."

"Please," the fashion queen insisted, "Just call me Mai."

Um… Everyone?" Atem suddenly stuttered, his expression holding a sense of… guilt? "C-could you excuse me for a moment?"

"Sure Buddy." Jonouchi replied, "I'd like to have some alone time with Mai anyway." The elder twin stepped backward hesitantly at first, but then he bolted into running, tears in his eyes.

"Atem! Wait!" Yugi called out running after his brother.

"What's wrong with him?" Mai asked.

"Oh, nothing." Jonouchi answered, "Atem just realized how he really feels about the girl who took your place. As in, how much she means to him." The sandy blonde gently took hold of Mai's hands, making her blush. "Come to think of it, that's exactly how I feel about you."

It was those very words that made Mai gasp in amazement. "Y-you're not angry at me? After all the lies and deception?"

"Why would I be?" Jonouchi replied, "You were trying to use trickery to catch the creep that killed your partner and stole the jewels, and I've gotta say, that's pretty bold of you."

Mai's lips slowly curled into a smile. "Oh Jonouchi…"

"When I came here with my friends from the Tokyo Nendaiki, we originally intended only to top our latest story. But after meeting you, it didn't really matter anymore. You know why? Because it just got personal. I really want to help you now more than ever, even if it means that all of us had to take matters to our own hands."

"… You know, for someone as dimwitted as you, you're a very brave man!" Mai stated with a mischievous look before backing away.

"HEY! WHO ARE YOU CALLING DIMWITTED?" Jonouchi barked, and chased after her. The chase didn't last long, as the sandy blonde caught her and tickled her ribs. In turn, Mai ticked his, and before they knew it they were rolling in the nearby grass in fits of laughter. The spark between them grew into a passionate fire, and they both knew it.

"By the way, Jonouchi…" Mai stated, "It may have been by accident, but… Thanks for saving my life last night."

"No problem…" Jonouchi replied.

* * *

Atem ran as fast as his legs could carry him, before he finally stopped by a large tree. As the events of last night replayed in his head, a deep sense of guilt overwhelmed him.

"**Oh Hon, are you all right?" Anzu asked, and she gasped in shock. "Oh no! Your necklace! Someone stole your neckla-"**

"**YOU CAN CUT THE ACT NOW!" Mai interrupted, shocking Atem and Anzu to no end. "The thief saw right through us." With that, she hurried over to the stage.**

_Why didn't I remember that part before?_ He thought to himself. _Mai would never have said those exact words if she wasn't actually playing along with that girl! And she wouldn't even be playing along in the first place if that impostor… wasn't her friend…!_ But as the elder Mutou twin began to realize, all the evidence was right before him, as clear as day. All the feelings of betrayal that he had in his heart melted away in an instant… and what was left was pain and regret. The tears built up in his eyes.

"Big Brother!" Yugi called out, finally catching up with the brother in question. The younger Mutou twin paused for a moment to catch his breath, but when he looked up, he saw that Atem had already started crying. It didn't take long for him to figure out why. "So you realize it now."

"Yes…" Atem sighed sadly, "You were right Yugi. The impostor—no, the woman I love had no intentions of betraying us at all! In fact… it was _**I**_ who had betrayed her!" His right hand curled up into a fist and he used it to punch the truck of the tree he was leaning upon, letting out a cry of anguish. "I'M SUCH A JERK!"

Yugi couldn't help but look upon the sobbing elder twin in pity. He placed a hand on Atem's shoulder. "It's obvious that you love her, even in spite of all that's happened." He replied, "Don't lose hope. There's only one way to make things right." He took out a certain object that he had picked up at the Summertelle. Atem's eyes widened in surprise; in his brother's hands was Anzu's glass slipper! The younger twin carefully handed it over to the elder. "Find her, Atem. Find her and apologize."

"B-but she could be anywhere!" Atem stuttered.

"It's the only way." Yugi replied. The elder twin only stared at the glass slipper, disheartened. "Look, how about you take a rest somewhere in the park. Is that all right?"

Atem nodded. "All right…" And with that, the twins parted.

Note: Yay, Jonouchi and Mai are back together! But what about Atem? Now that he knows the terrible mistake he had made, will he ever find Anzu- or even find forgiveness? Part two of this little scene is coming up in the next chapter! Until next time!


	9. Apologies and Impressing Girls

Note: Here we are at the newest chapter of this story. From here on out, updating is gonna be a little bit slow, because up until now, all the other chapters have been pre-written. In any case, here is part two of our little park scene, and it's full of some humor and sweet fluff!

Chapter 8: Apologies and Impressing Girls

Minutes passed. Atem sat forlornly on the bench, his hands resting on his lap, both of which were clutching the precious glass slipper. _How could I have been such a monster?_ He thought, _She switched places with her best friend at the request to protect her! She was trying to help her catch the thieves! And what did I do to thank her?_

"**YOU **_**FRAUD!**_** YOU LIED TO ME! YOU USED ME!"**

**Anzu blue eyes brimmed with tears. "P-please Atem," she whimpered, reaching out to him. "I can explain!"**

"**NO!" Atem roared as he struck her hand away from him, his voice filled with venom. "GET OUT MY SIGHT! I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU IN MY PRESENCE AGAIN!"**

Just the very thought of that memory was enough to break his heart. Once more, he found himself weeping. A single tear dropped onto the slipper. _Now I've lost her… forever!_

* * *

From behind one of the trees, Mahaad and Mana stared at the saddened elder twin. "Poor Atem!" Mana sighed. "He must be taking it really hard after what he did to Anzu!" She faced her master. "Will they ever get together again?"

Mahaad responded with a secret smile. "Be patient Mana." He replied, "Where there's a will, there's a way. You just need to keep watching if you want to find out." And so the Dark Magician and his apprentice continued on with their observation, unseen.

* * *

Kaiba, back in his usual outfit, was strolling down the park when he caught a glimpse of one of his cousins. "Well, hey there cousin." He greeted, startling the elder Mutou twin.

"Oh! Kaiba… hey." Atem replied, looking back at the glass slipper.

The teen millionaire took a seat on the bench. "You look pretty down in the dumps since last night."

It was at this very moment that a lanky man in a tattered brown coat and a worn-out hat came by. The man had short dreadlocks, and his dirty face did nothing to hide a short mustache and beard. "Um… pardon me for barging in, but… I think I know your story."

The two cousins were startled by the lanky man's sudden appearance. "Who are you?" Kaiba asked.

"Just a bum that's fallen into hard times. Like you mister." The lanky man replied. "You don't have to tell me anything. I know your story. It's very much like my own."

The teen millionaire was nothing less than appalled by the statement. "Wh-what are you talking about? I haven't-"

"Would you mind telling us your story?" Atem asked, eager to embarrass his cousin and genuinely interested in the lanky man's tale.

"Don't mind if I do." The lanky man answered, taking a seat by Kaiba. After getting himself comfortable, he sighed and stated, "I warn you though, it's a pretty sad story. You see… my friend Bernie and I used to be budding entrepreneurs in the Laundromat business. We cast in our stockings, certificates, and even our insurance policy and we went in and bought out some dry cleaning stuff. I was the big boss back then, and I thought I was the greatest! Well, one day, another Laundromat opened up from across the street. It charged less than the price I gave my customers, and they got stuff out faster because they got more help than I did. I didn't realize it then, but I had forgotten what's truly important when I set up the business. Friends and family didn't matter to me during those years, only the big money. So when things started to fall apart I keep telling to myself, it ain't my fault! You know what I mean, right?"

"That's-" Kaiba began.

"Right." Atem interrupted, "Go on." Kaiba glared at his cousin.

"Weeks after the rival store opened," the lanky man continued, "Bernie came to me and said, 'I want you to buy me out.' I realized at that moment that he was fed up with me. And that's not all. I had a wife and a couple of kids, but I never saw the kids growing up; I was too preoccupied with my job. And I didn't care… until I found out from my wife that my babies had become juvenile delinquents due to years of bullies and low self-esteem. I still remember how angry my wife was when she confronted me that night. She said to me, 'You care more about your lousy business than you do your own family!' Then she left me the next day, taking all our kids with her. Thinking back, I know now that she was right." Atem could see the tears building up in the lanky man's eyes.

"Look, you're talking to the wrong-" Kaiba tried to explain. But much to his dismay, the teen millionaire was interrupted again. The elder Mutou twin chuckled quietly, enjoying his cousin's humiliation.

"Then things got worse." stated the lanky man. "all my equipment broke down, and my sister moved in with me because Bernie, God bless his soul, he ran off to join the circus. I had it right up to there, man. I was up in my wits end. So in the end, I did the only thing I could do: I dumped my Laundromat business for a song. Guess who I sold it to? Yep, that's right. The jerk from the rival business across the street, the same guy who had been burying me for a year. By the time I realized what's really important to me, it was already too late. Now I've taken all the money I've had left over and sunk it into a kind of Cinderella business, working part time as a janitor in fast food chains and peddling in the streets just to survive. And now look at me, I'm a shadow of my former self." The lanky man sighed. "Well, now you know my story. Pretty sad, isn't it?"

There was a slight pause, before Kaiba finally spoke. "…Finally, I thought this sob story is never gonna end. You said you know my story right? Well, you've got it completely, totally, 110 percent WRONG! What happened to you had absolutely NOTHING to do with my situation! Besides, I'm still a wealthy man whose business is still prosperous!"

"Oh, you are?" the lanky man asked. "Then how come your buddy's looking so down over there?"

"That's my point." Kaiba replied bluntly, "He's the one having problems! Not me!"

At that, Atem grew sad, staring once more at the glass slipper. "It's a long story."

"A familiar one?" asked the lanky man.

"… Older than the hills."

The lanky man's eyes lit up. "Oh… I get it! I know your story! And I mean it too!"

"Try me." Atem replied with a frown, skeptical after his fun with Kaiba.

"All right then… I don't know the details, but what happened was this: You fell in love with a girl, love at first sight." The elder Mutou twin stated in amazement as the lanky man continued. "Then you found out she was not the person that she claimed to be, that she was pretending to be someone else… and you lashed out at her. Later however, you discovered the reason as to why she did what she did. And in the end, it turns out that in spite of the lies and deception, you still love her from the bottom of your heart. And you regret what you did to her. And that's why, like the prince in the tale of Cinderella, you're looking for the girl whose foot fits that glass slipper. You wanted to make up, but you're just afraid that you'll never see her again."

Now it was Atem who broke down into tears. "You know what surprises me? You're absolutely right!"

"If I were you, I shouldn't give up hope that easily." The lanky man encouraged. "I'm sure you'll find her somewhere! And when you do, I have no doubt that she'll forgive you! Besides, I got a feeling she loves you back, even after all that's happened!"

The elder Mutou twin wiped his tears. "For someone who's lost everything, you seem pretty optimistic."

"Hey, it's true that what happened in the past still makes me sad. But that gave me enough reason to find the courage I need to pick up the pieces. I'm not the kind of guy who would sit around and mope when things go bad, and neither should you."

Upon hearing those words, Atem gave a small smile. "You're right. I will find her. After all… I love her. Thank you!"

"Hey, no problem!" the lanky man replied as he stood up. Turning his attention to Kaiba, he took out a fine watch and held it out. "Wanna buy a watch?"

"I already got one." Kaiba replied, taking out some money. "But I could always use more, even if it's just for decoration."

Once the exchange was done, the lanky man departed saying, "Thanks!"

The teen millionaire sighed in relief once that 'weirdo' was gone. It was at that moment that Atem also decided to stand up. "If what that man said is true… then I have to look for her!"

Suddenly, there was a scream coming from behind them. Atem and his cousin spun around growing shocked; the elder Mutou twin recognized that voice immediately. "It's her!" The two of them rushed as fast as they could from behind the trees. There, from a distance was Anzu. She was dressed casually like Atem was; she wore a pink denim jacket and a black tube top, a short yellow skirt hugging her hips and wrapped sandals on her feet. As of that moment, she was being harassed by a huge man. He had a black T-shirt, blue jeans, black leather boots, and a black leather vest. The look was complete with sunglasses and a bandana that looked like an American Flag. He had a grip on the new Valentine Model's wrist, grinning sadistically.

"Let go of me!" Anzu shrieked, trying to tug herself free.

"What's a matter? (hic)" the man, Keith, asked in a slurred voice. "Am I too (hic) good for ya?"

"IN YOUR DREAMS!" Anzu screamed and punched Keith in the jaw. She tried to run, but the drunkard caught up with her easily. He grabbed her from behind.

"Feisty little thing! (hic) I like that in a girl!" He began to squeeze her left breast and reached toward her belt. "I'm sure we'll have lots of fun!"

"No! H-help! HELP!" Anzu screamed. Keith burst into laughter, unaware that Atem and Kaiba were watching the whole thing. Seeing his dream girl in such a dire situation like this, Atem could no longer control his fury. He sped over to her as fast as he could.

"HEY!" Atem roared, "HEY YOU! GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF HER!" Before Keith even knew it, the elder Mutou twin had yanked him away from the new Valentine Model and tossed him into the nearby lake! The drunkard rose up to the surface, coughing and sputtering.

"Aw C'mon! (hic) I was asking for the time! (hic) Honest!"

"Oh really?" Atem snapped, "Then why are your hands trying to touch this young lady in places that shouldn't be touched WITHOUT HER PERMISSION? And besides, you're drunk!"

"Well, I uh…"

"Listen well you punk! If I catch you harassing my girlfriend again, I'll make sure you suffer more than a mere dunking!" With that, Atem spun around to face Anzu—only to find her missing! Startled, he looked left and right of him. "Kaiba! Where did she go?"

"She went that way." Replied the teen millionaire, pointing in the direction of the trees.

"Thanks!" Atem stated, and ran as fast as he could in that direction. Once he got to the place where he was before, he found Anzu seated on the bench. Her head was bowed down low, her hands burying her face, and he could hear her heartbroken sobs. Indeed, it broke his own heart to see her that way. After all, he was the cause of her misery. Slowly, he stepped towards the crying girl. Slowly, he bent over by her side.

"Miss?" Atem asked softly, "Miss, are you all right?"

THWACK!

The only reply he got was a very hard slap in the face. It startled the elder Mutou twin to no end, but then he looked up and saw her glaring at him. All at once, he saw the pain and anger in her expression. He grew sad at the sight of it. "I guess I did deserve that…" he sighed.

All at once, the anger disappeared from Anzu's expression, giving way to a look of surprise. But soon, she broke down crying again. Atem sat down beside her. "You had no idea…!" she whimpered, "I never wanted to lie to you! Never! B-but I had to!"

Atem gently wrapped a reassuring arm around her shoulders and brought her close to him. "I know. Your friend, Mai, the real Lady Valentine, told me everything. You were only trying to protect her by choosing to become the bait for those murderous thieves. I understand that now."

Anzu leaned onto her boyfriend's shoulder. "I'm sorry…"

"No, it's all right." Atem reassured with a smile. "There's nothing to be sorry about." Once again, he grew sad. "In fact, it is _**I**_ who should apologize." Anzu looked up in amazement as the elder Mutou twin continued. "I should never have let my anger get the better of me. I was so consumed by all those feeling of betrayal after I found out the truth. But, after I learned the reason behind all those lies…" His own tears soon became visible. "Oh, I've been such a jerk to you! I know that now! Even though you didn't want to, you lied about being someone else… and there I was, angry you about those lies, when all this time I was the one who encouraged you to do it in the first place!" He paused to take in a short breath before he finally asked, "Would you ever forgive me?"

For a while, Anzu stared at the elder Mutou twin. But finally, she smiled. "You don't know how much that means to me." Atem looked up at the new Valentine model in amazement. "I guess…" she continued, "We both made a great deal of mistakes. So… why should I not forgive you?"

Now it was Atem's turn to smile. "Thank you… And you know? I just realized another thing. You didn't lie to me all the time." His expression became serious as he took out the photo evidence. "Remember telling me about at least two suspects… Vivian and Bakura? Well, it turns out you were right." Anzu stared at the photo in utter shock at what it revealed. "It turn out your friend has more enemies than we initially thought."

"Oh…!" Anzu gasped.

Once more, the elder Mutou twin graced his girlfriend with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. Mai knows about them too. She wants to concentrate on tonight's fashion show, but she plans to expose those people as soon as it reaches its conclusion. And as an extra precaution, she's putting the Millennium Diamond in a safe place. In the meantime, my friends and I will continue our investigation. The information you gave us is quite valuable, and with it, we have even greater hopes that they would be put to justice."

Anzu wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. "I'm so glad that I would be able to help you in this way. But still… from the moment I met you, Atem, I wanted to tell you about who I really am. I want you to get to know me… the real me!"

"I'm glad." Atem replied, taking hold of her hand, "Because I want to get to know the real you as well. Let's start with the introductions. You already know my name of course! So what's yours?"

The new Valentine Model blushed and gave a small smile. "…Anzu. Anzu Mazaki."

"Anzu… that's a beautiful name. All right Anzu, is there anything you like to do?"

"Well, I used to work as a receptionist for Mai." Anzu replied bashfully.

"Used to?"

"Recently she gave me a kind of… promotion." Anzu admitted, "I'm her new top model now."

"Really?" Atem gasped in amazement, "Oh, so you're the new Valentine Model! Congratulations!"

"I'm not that good!"

"Why not? You have a beautiful figure and face. And you're one of the kindest people I've ever met!"

Anzu blushed at the compliment. "T-thank you. I admit, being a model is fun." She leaned back on the bench. "But to be honest, there's only one thing I want to be more than a model."

"And what is that?" Atem asked.

"Well… I don't care if it's in Broadway or even in a small theatre. I want to be a dancer."

"Do you?" Atem replied, "Well, I think that you would make an excellent dancer! Last night at the Summertelle was proof of that! Oh, by the way… I had such a wonderful time dancing with you."

"Really? I'm glad!" Anzu stated, "I had a great time dancing with you too!" Both shared a joyful laugh.

"Oh!" Atem noted suddenly, "And speaking of which…" He stood up from the bench, and knelt down in front of the new Valentine Model. She couldn't help but gasp in surprise as he undid the strap of her left sandal and removed it. But her confusion soon vanished when he took out a beautiful glass slipper—her glass slipper! "I believe this belongs to you." He stated, and with that, he carefully fitted the slipper onto her left foot. Naturally, it was a perfect fit. "I've found you at last… my Cinderella."

Anzu began to cry again. But this time, they were tears of joy. "Oh Atem…" The two of them leaned toward each other, until at last, their trembling lips met in a passionate kiss. And in that one kiss, everything between them was reconciled.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Atem and Anzu joined up with Jonouchi, Mai and Yugi, and they all decided to have some fun in the park. Jonouchi and Mai both rented some bikes, Yugi and Anzu got some rollerblades, and Atem took a skateboard.

"So it's Anzu, huh?" Yugi asked.

"Yep." Anzu replied.

The younger twin turned toward his brother. "I gotta say Big Brother, I'm kinda jealous of you."

"You? Jealous?" Atem asked. "Why is that?"

"Well, One: you managed to get a girlfriend before I did." Yugi replied with a smirk, "And Two: Your dream girl just so happens to be my dream girl."

"Oh is that so?" Atem replied playfully, "Well why didn't you go after her?"

"You guys look good together, that's why!" Yugi chuckled. "Say, when are you guys gonna do the body shuffle?"

Atem blushed, figuring out exactly what his brother meant. "Y-YUGI!"

"Oh c'mon, you know you want to!"

"You're asking for it, Little Brother!"

"Do they always tease each other like this?" Mai asked.

"Sometimes." Jonouchi replied. "I personally find it entertaining."

"I could see why!" Mai chuckled.

"Anyway, "Anzu stated, "Atem, when you're not working for the newspaper and the blog, what do you like to do on your spare time?"

"Who me?" Atem replied, "I like playing games. I play all sorts of them, but my favorite is Duel Monsters."

"Cool!" Anzu complimented, "You must be pretty good at it."

"Are you kidding me?" Jonouchi noted, "He just so happens to be a two-time Duel Monsters tournament champion!"

"Really?" Mai stated in excited interest.

"Well, there's actually only one person who's ever actually beat me." Atem explained, "I'll give you a hint: he looks just like me."

Mai and Anzu both stared at the younger Mutou twin in amazement. "Yugi?" Anzu gasped.

Yugi just chuckled. "What can I say? I love Duel Monsters just as much as he does!"

"That's right." Atem agreed with a playful smirk. "Believe it it or not, we had to jump out of a plane when we arrived in America; I had to toss out his deck just to get him off!"

"You don't have to bring that up!" Yugi complained.

While all this was going on, Kaiba watched from the bench. He of course, wasn't interested in joining the fun. Right at that moment, someone came over from behind him. "Hello."

The teen millionaire jumped in surprise before he looked up at the figure… and smiled. "Kisara! So great to see you again!" He gave his 'blue-eyes' a kiss on the cheek. "Are you excited about the start of New York City Fashion week?"

"Yeah, but I'm also a little nervous…" Kisara replied, "Especially since you're hosting tonight's fashion show along with Lady Valentine!" She looked up and beamed at the sight. "Oh, is that…? Aww, I'm so happy that everybody's back together again."

Kaiba smirked. "As much as I hate to admit it, so am I."

Back among the group, Atem's lips also curled into a confident smirk. Without warning, he shoved off on his skateboard, making sure that Anzu was watching. "Atem? What are you doing?" It didn't take long for her to get an answer. The elder twin started grinding on the rails, then went on to do a 360 spin, landing gracefully on the back of an empty bench with a handstand. To finish it off, he did an Ollie way ahead of the group, earning a round of applause from Anzu. "Wow! That was amazing!" she exclaimed, highly impressed, "I didn't know you can do that with the skateboard!"

"Hmph… show off." Kaiba muttered.

_Well, if Tem can impress his girlfriend,_ Jonouchi thought, _then so can I!_ The sandy blonde soon proceeded to stand up on his bike, intending to impress Mai by standing on it with one foot. It wasn't easy, and it was made a little more frustrating by the fact that the fashion queen was not looking.

"Ha ha ha ha! What a dumb mutt, thinking he can learn new tricks!" Kaiba mocked, "LOOK MA, NO BRAINS!"

"Um, is he even listening?" Kisara asked, sweatdropping.

Of course, that didn't deter the sandy blonde one bit, and he quickly repositioned himself so he was doing a handstand on the bike. "HEY! MAI! WHOAAA!" Obviously, he was having a hard time trying to keep his balance. And pretty soon he was lagging behind until…

CRASH!

When Mai finally turned to look, she found Jonouchi's bike running off… without its owner! "Jonouchi!" Immediately, she spun around… only to burst into laughter at what turned out to be a humorous sight. As it turned out, Jonouchi was hanging upside-down on the branch of a tree.

"Okay, so it's not what I had in mind." Jonouchi explained.

"Well, at least you tried." Mai replied, "In any case let me help you get down." She turned her bike around, and pedaled toward her boyfriend.

"Hey!" Jonouchi stated suddenly, "Could you get your hands off the handle? And move yourself back a bit." Confused, the fashion queen did what she was told and proceeded onward. "Okay, you ready? 'Cause here I come!" And without warning, he let himself drop off the branch. One minute, Mai was gasping in horror—the next thing she knew, he landed right in front of her, doing a perfect handstand on the bike handles and doing the splits at the same time! He quickly got on the bike with his girlfriend behind him. "YEE-HA! I still got it!"

"Jonouchi!" Mai snapped.

"Hey, I-I'm sorry I scared you like that!"

"That's all right." Mai reassured, hugging the sandy blonde from behind him. Jonouchi felt the blood rushing to his head the moment he felt the fashion queen's arms wrap around his torso. "Just don't do it again, okay?" Atem, Yugi and Anzu all laughed joyfully at the cute scene before them. As they traveled along the park, they soon caught a glimpse of some familiar faces performing on stage. It was the rock band from Motel Joy, doing a little impromptu gig in the center of the park. This time, they could see Nautilus singing as the lead vocalist of the mixed metal band, all in his full glory.

"Check it out guys!" Yugi shouted excitedly, "It's our friends from Motel Joy! They're look so awesome as a rock band!"

"Why don't we go over and see them Little Brother?" Atem noted, "We still have time before the ladies get ready for tonight's fashion show."

"Great idea!" Yugi agreed.

"You said it!" Jonouchi added. Even the girls nodded, and they went over for a closer look.

"You want to watch too Seto?" Kisara asked.

Kaiba paused for a minute. "…All right, you convinced me. I'm really starting to get into their music." So the teen millionaire and his blue-eyes girlfriend went over to join his cousins and their friends. They all intended to savor the moment.

Note: Isn't it a sweet chapter? In the next one, the long awaited fashion show begins. But in spite of all the heroes' efforts, Bakura makes his move after catching wind of Mai's plan. All the while, Varon finds himself torn between his alliance with the thief and his unrequited love for the fashion queen in question. In the end, someone is going to get framed for theft and murder, but who? Until Next Time!


	10. Framed!

Note: Finally! I thought I was never going to get this chapter done! Not only was I going through a bad case of writer's block (with an easily distracted muse), but my brother's recently got a bad case of brain fart as well! But now I finally got it up and running, so without further delay, let's get on with the story! There will be tons of suspense and humor, and in Varon's case, unrequited love. As I've said before, someone is going to get framed for theft and murder. Here's a hint as to who it is: It's not who you think! Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Framed!

It was the start of New York City Fashion Week, and that night the moment of the first fashion show had finally arrived. The famous Valentine Models were getting busy with preparations for their time on the runway—including a very new face.

"Isn't it amazing?" Kisara queried as she applied the red lipstick on Anzu's lips. "Today is your first day of being a real Valentine Model! How does it feel?"

"Well, I can't help but feel a little nervous." Anzu replied.

"Make way, coming through!" shouted a young attendant rushing by with a wheeled rack full of Mai's chic dresses, knocking over the blue-eyes model and smearing the lipstick across the new model's right cheek. "Sorry!" she managed to stutter in embarrassment before she disappeared into the background.

"I take it you have to deal with something like that all the time, huh?" Anzu asked.

"Yeah." Kisara admitted, wiping off the resulting smudge, "Such is the behind-the-scenes life of a fashion model. You'll get used to it. Besides, a lot of fun stuff happens even before the show starts!"

"All right ladies!" Mai announced, "It's almost time for you to strut you stuff! When you get on the runway, keep in mind that tonight is the appetizer of what's to come; we want to leave our fans hungry for more as the week goes by!" The models all cheered enthusiastically and the fashion queen continued on. She approached one model that was going through the motions of chewing. "Feeling a little nervous?" she asked.

"Mm-hmm." The model replied, "That's why I chew gum before going on the runway. It helps to relieve my stress. But don't worry, I always spit it out before I go on."

"Glad to hear it." Mai stated before moving on. Before long another model called out to her.

"Lady Valentine, I can't find my eyeliner! Do you know where it is?"

"It's on the top shelf to the right of your vanity." Mai directed, "You can't miss it!"

"Oh, thank you!" the model replied with a relieved sigh when she found the eyeliner.

Soon a third model brought out a pair of worn out high heels. "May I please have a different pair of shoes? This pair is on its last legs."

"Sure! Let me help you find some nice stilettos." Hiding in the shadows, Varon watched Mai adoringly as she passed by.

"It's been so long…" he mused, "And she's still so beautiful."

Very soon though, Bakura came out to join him. He was not very pleased. "Out of all women, why did you fall for her, the one woman who should have been dead by now?"

"I've known her from way back." Varon replied sadly, "The moment I laid eyes on her, I knew she was the one for me!"

"Well, you better snap out of it if I were you." Bakura growled.

"You don't understand!" Varon protested, "I love her! We're meant to be together!"

"Oh really? Are you certain that she's your one and only? What if I told you she's in love with someone else?"

Varon gasped in horror. "…You're lying! YOU'RE LYING! Mai would never leave me in favor of another bloke!"

"Then go prove it." Bakura stated, "Try to win her love. You've made that attempt many times in your Wart Hog days." The biker stood speechless as the master thief continued, "That's right. I know more about you than you realize. You were hoping that if you gain a fortune, she'll fall head over heels for you. That's why you left that old biker gang behind, isn't it?"

"…Y-yeah." Varon admitted, "And that's also the reason why I started working for you in the first place!"

"Yes… so now that you're on my team, I highly suggest you forget about that woman and go forward with the plan."

Vivian stepped out of the shadows to join her master. "That's right." She stated, "Since our attempt at attacking Lady Valentine was all messed up, the police will be asking questions sooner or later. Luckily for us, we managed to find someone who's going to take the fall for us—and not many people are going to have any doubts about him."

Marik joined in as well. "He may be the richest teenager in half the world, and he may have contributed to a lot of charities and famous events, but Seto Kaiba has a well-known reputation for being a total jerk. When we plant the goods on him, nobody will think twice about sending him to prison."

But Varon's gloved hands curled into fists. "Well, I can't concentrate on Seto Kaiba right now! I will not forget about Mai! You want proof that she loves me back? Fine! I'll find her and win her heart! You just wait!" And with that, he ran off to find the fashion queen. Bakura simply sighed in disgust.

* * *

Mai smiled to herself as she sped by, having found a perfect pair of stilettos for one of her models. All of a sudden, she found herself colliding with someone. The impact was enough to take both parties off balance, but thankfully not enough to send them to the floor. "WATCH IT, BUSTER!" Mai snapped angrily, but her anger turned into shock the moment she recognized the young man she collided with. "V-Varon!"

The biker smiled at her. "G'day love."

"W-what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see you before the show starts." Varon replied, taking hold of the fashion queen's hand. "I know I've asked you this before, but when the show's over… you wanna go out with me?"

Mai pulled her hand away from the biker's grip. "Sorry, but I can't." She then proceeded to leave and continue her business, but much to her dismay, Varon followed her.

"Wait… wait! Just a-" But before he could finish, Mai tossed some clothes onto the biker, hoping to discourage him. But he just pulled the clothes off of his face and sped onward. "Just a moment, please!" Finally, he caught her in his grasp and spun her around so that she was facing him, her back against the wall. "Mai… Do you even know how much I love you? You're not like the other girls I've known so far. Sure, they got long legs, chiseled noses, pearly white teeth and soft skin, all the things I adore in a woman… but they don't have strong bodies, strong minds… or even strong hearts… like you do."

Mai only gave the lovesick biker a glare. "You know, I'm not surprised if I gave you restless nights! Because guess what! I'M NOT THAT INTO YOU!" she momentarily broke free, but Varon grabbed hold of her again giving her a desperate look.

"Mai, please! You don't **mean** that! Please don't put a door between us!"

"Too late Varon, I already have!" Mai snapped, struggling in his grip, "NOW LET GO OF ME!"

Luckily for her, a familiar voice called out to save her—the voice of the young man she loved. "YEAH, YOU HEARD HER, PUNK! LET HER GO!" Startled, Varon did just that. Jonouchi rushed in, angered at Varon's presence but filled with concern for his girlfriend.

"Jonouchi!" Mai cried, allowing herself to fall into the safety of the sandy blonde's embrace. For a moment, the two of them stayed in that position.

"Are you all right Mai?" Jonouchi asked.

Mai simply nodded. "I'm okay. Thank you."

Varon stared at the couple in utter shock, recognizing the boy who had come into the picture. "Hey! I've seen you before! You're the bloke who barged in while I was dancing with Mai!"

The two of them glared at him, but it was Mai who spoke. "I suppose I should give you a proper introduction." She stepped back a bit and held a hand out toward the sandy blonde. "Varon, this is Jonouchi Katsuya… my boyfriend."

Varon's eyes widened in shock and dismay; he just could not believe what he had just heard. "Your… boyfriend?" At that very moment, the tears began to build up in his eyes. _T-this can't be! I thought she…!_ But the more he stared at the couple before him, the more it began to sink in that what Mai said was true. She had found the love of her life.

And it was definitely **not** Varon.

His heart broke on the spot. "Why…?" the biker whimpered, "We… we could have had something special together!"

"Well, it should have been obvious to you by now." Jonouchi growled, "So listen up: from now on, you better stay away from my girlfriend. Otherwise, I'm not gonna hesitate to make mincemeat out of you!"

Varon could tell by the tone of the sandy blonde's voice that he meant business… and the heartbroken tears began to flow. "O-of course. I…I'll stay clear. I won't be responsible… for what may happen." And with that, he bolted.

Once the biker was out of sight, Jonouchi let out a frustrated breath, then turned toward his girlfriend. "You know, a small part of me feels sorry for him. But he is one of the bad guys. Are you sure you don't want to tell the police right away?"

"Yes Jonouchi, I'm sure." Mai answered, "I know it's a big risk to wait until after the fashion show, but in this way Bakura and his fellow bandits won't know what hit them. I even asked Atem to bring the photo evidence to help back me up. And besides that, it helps me focus on my job as a famous fashion designer."

Jonouchi nodded in understanding. "In that case, I'll see you doing your stuff on the runway. I'm looking forward to seeing your line, especially since Anzu became your new top model."

"Thanks Jonouchi!" Mai replied, kissing the sandy blonde on the cheek before he departed.

All the while, Varon's eyes widened in even greater shock. Although he was out of Mai's sight, he didn't leave; even after learning the truth, he just couldn't bear to do so. Instead, he had hidden himself in a shadowy corner, listening in on the conversation that took place.

And he had heard everything.

* * *

"Now which design should I wear first?" Anzu asked, scanning the flowing dresses in the rack. "They're all so amazing, I don't know which one to choose!"

"I know!" Kisara replied, "Mai makes the most stunning outfits, and it's not just dresses!"

"Well, I don't really care that much." A familiar voice suddenly stated, "Any of them would suit you just fine."

Anzu spun around and immediately her expression brightened. "Atem!" she exclaimed happily as she ran to meet her love. The two exchanged a quick kiss on the lips before the new model asked, "What are you doing backstage?"

"I just wanted to wish you luck before you go on the runway." The elder Mutou twin answered.

"Aww, how sweet of you!"

"Thank you Anzu." Atem stated, "I also want to confirm that I have the photo with me, just as Mai had requested."

"That's great!" Anzu replied, "You'll be a big help in catching those thieves!"

"My pleasure. In the meantime, Yugi and I are looking forward to seeing you strut your stuff. The same goes with the rest of our friends."

"Okay ladies, the show's about to start in five minutes!" they heard Mai announce, "We'll start the week off with our summer line, so make it work!"

"Guess this is my cue to get back to my seat." Atem mused. "I'll see you on the runway."

"Thanks, see ya!" Anzu replied, and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek before he left to join his friends.

* * *

Bakura, Marik and Vivian all were lurking in the backstage shadows. Just when they were about to lose their patience, a certain biker came in, a dejected look upon his face. "Hey, I'm back." Varon stated.

"Ugh, it's about time you showed up Varon." Marik groaned. "I was ready to go after you and drag you back here."

"So are you done flirting with your little Juliet, Romeo?" Vivian asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"…Yes." Varon replied sadly.

"Heh. By the way you look, it turns out I was right." Bakura noted with a smirk. "All right, let's get on with it. Marik, do you have the bait?"

"Yes." Marik replied, holding out Mai's gold necklace, which was now devoid of all its diamonds. "All we need to do now is plant it into Kaiba's pocket. As to how we'll do that and have him 'expose' himself, I presume you'll figure that out as we go along."

"Excellent!" Bakura stated with a wicked grin. "Now let's start finding the whereabouts of the Millennium Diamond so we can get on with the heist tomorrow night! Once I get my hands on that diamond, everyone in the fashion industry will finally see me as number one!"

As Varon listened in on the master thief's plan, his heart started beating faster. He still loved Mai, that's for sure, and he was now growing even more hesitant to follow along with the rest of the thieves. But then he remembered the fashion queen in the arms of that boy, Jonouchi. Just the thought of seeing the girl of his dreams giving her heart to the sandy blonde shattered his heart and made him sick to his stomach. Of course, the thought of going along with Babura's murderous schemes now sickened him too. Needless to say, he was completely torn. His loyalty to the master thief was quickly wavering, and he was unsure about whether or not to warn him about what Mai was planning. But soon the image of Mai leaving him for Jonouchi finally overwhelmed him… and he could bear the heartache no more.

"SHE KNOWS!" a teary-eyed Varon blurted out, instantly grabbing the attention of the other three thieves.

"What did you say?" Vivian snapped.

"Lady Valentine… she knows! She knows we did the deed!" the biker repeated. "She's planning to rat us out at the end of the show tonight! And one of her friends, Atem Mutou… he's got a picture of us from last night; it caught us red handed! And he's gonna back her up by showing it to the world!"

The three of them stared at him in utter shock. "And how do you know if it's true?" Bakura asked.

At first, Varon didn't answer. But finally he replied, "I was listening in to their chatter… I heard everything."

Vivian soon boiled up in fury. "Why—that—bitch! I knew she was up to something since our blunder last night! There's no way we can get Kaiba to take the heat now! She'll ruin everything!"

"So I guess that means the gig is up, right?" queried Marik.

"Not quite." Bakura replied, a smirk curling onto his lips as he faced the biker. "You said she'll rat us out after the fashion show, right?"

"Yeah." Varon confirmed.

"Well… you just improved my plan." The master thief chuckled, "Both for Kaiba and for getting the Millennium Diamond. And all the while, it'll strike Miss Kujaku where it'll hurt her the most."

"Really?" Vivian gasped excitedly, "Do tell!"

"All right, now listen carefully to what I'm going to tell you."

Marik let out a sinister chuckle. "You know Varon, you're not such an idiot after all."

But in the corner, Varon felt that he was exactly that: a total idiot. He had just warned his accomplices of Mai's plan to expose them… and he regretted every minute of it. He turned his face away from the thieves so that they wouldn't see him cry. "Mai Kujaku…" he muttered sadly, "Please… forgive me!"

* * *

The crowd surrounding the large runway, with its futuristic multicolored lights and spraying fountain, was abuzz with excitement. Dance music blared out from the speakers, adding to the spectacle to come. But none were as excited as a certain pair of perverts blending into the crowd at the front. "Oooo! I can't believe we're actually here!" Haga muttered excitedly.

"Yeah!" Ryuzaki agreed, "We're only seconds away from seeing Lady Valentine and her models in person! I'm feeling pumped up just thinking about it!"

The bug boy looked around and blinked in surprise. "Hey! L-look over there!" he exclaimed, pointing toward the audience. There, not so far away from them, were the Mutou brothers, along with Jonouchi and Honda. "It's those guys again!" Haga stated. "Sheesh! It's like wherever we go, there they are!"

"Aw, who cares?" Ryuzaki replied smugly, "They're not gonna get in the way this time! Besides, we got the best seats in the house!"

Haga was all grins when he heard that. "You're right! Nothing can stop us now!"

It was right at that moment that Kaiba came striding in, microphone in hand. There was a round of applause as the audience realized that the show was about to start. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen," Kaiba greeted, "and welcome to the first day of New York City Fashion Week. I am your host Seto Kaiba. Like you, I have been looking forward to this time when latest and greatest creations of world famous fashion designers go on display on this very catwalk. And I'm sure for some of you, you'll be bombarded with overactive hormones."

"Is he talking about us?" Ryuzaki asked.

"Nah." Haga replied.

"Without further ado, let's get on with it!" Kaiba continued, "Tonight we will start off with one of the most famous designers around. Her line has been seen all over the world and the fame of her models outshines even the stars. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you… Lady Valentine!" The whole audience erupted into cheers the moment Mai stepped up and took the microphone from Kaiba's hand.

"It's her! It's actually her!" Haga gasped, "That's the one and only Lady Valentine!"

"Yeah Mai! Do your stuff!" Jonouchi shouted in encouragement.

"Hey, what's up New York!" Mai announced cheerfully, to which the cheers grew louder. "I have to say, it is an honor to finally grace you with my presence and introduce you to the most stunning fashionistas known the world over! And tonight, you'll get to meet a new face in the fashion world, and I'm sure you'll love her just as much as I do. Anyway, let's get that show started! To start off, we'll be taking you to a tropical paradise with the first half of the Valentine summer collection!" And with a wink she added, "Hope you enjoy!" Again, the audience erupted into cheers as the fashion queen moved backstage. Soon the lights started flashing, and upbeat music blared out of the speakers. The fashion show had begun. One by one, the famous Valentine Models stepped onto the catwalk, each wearing a sarong-like outfit. Some were like evening dresses, others composed of a top and a pair of pants. But no matter the look, each of Mai's creations were more stunning than the last.

"You seem to be having fun Honda." Yugi noted as Honda eagerly flashed the camera at the models.

"At least save some film for Anzu." Atem reminded, "She'll be coming out last for this part."

Meanwhile, Haga and Ryuzaki both stared at the models, practically drooling as each of them passed by on the runway. "It's a dream come true!" Haga sighed, "Look at the legs on that one!"

"You should see the boobs on that one Haga." Ryuzaki replied. A photographer from the paparazzi stepped in front of the dino boy, flashing his camera before moving onward. "HEY! YOU'RE MESSING UP OUR VIEW! Sheesh, I hate the paparazzi…"

"You and me both." Haga agreed. Then the two perverts resumed their sightseeing.

Backstage, Kisara and Anzu watched the other models intently. Both were wearing the most stylish sarong dresses that their friend and employer had made. The one worn by the blue eyed model was a beautiful white evening dress inlaid with light blue tiger stripes, the top of which resembling an elegant tube top. The new Valentine model, had a similar dress, but the top resembled a strapped bikini and was colored hot pink with golden yellow flower patterns. "Well Anzu, this is it!" Kisara stated, "I'll be stepping up in fifteen seconds and to finish off this part of the show, you'll be strutting on after me. You ready for the flashing lights?"

"With Atem and his friends watching, I'm ready as I'll ever be." Anzu replied. "As for you Kisara, good luck!"

"Thanks."

"All right Kisara!" Mai shouted in encouragement, "You're up next, and Kaiba's watching! Go for it!" Quickly, the blushing Kisara came out onto the runway to display the fashion. There were cameras flashing everywhere, and Kaiba couldn't help but smile at his girlfriend.

"I've got to admit," Jonouchi stated, "Kisara really looks stunning in that dress."—he nudged the elder Mutou twin with a playful smirk—"But I bet Anzu's gonna be even more so when she gets on!" Atem simply blushed.

As one of the models returned backstage, the fashion queen gave her new model a hard pat on the back. "Anzu! It's your time to shine! Give it all you got Hon!"

"Okay!" Anzu replied and hurried over to the runway. She paused to take a deep breath… then stepped into the spotlight. There were wild cheers all around as the crowd realized that she was the new top model—and it was love at first sight. The paparazzi, eager to capture the images of this new beauty, began to swarm like honeybees at the runway, flashing their cameras as she strode by. A particularly fat cameraman with a big butt stepped in front of Haga and Ryuzaki, much to their chagrin.

"HEY! DOWN IN FRONT!" Haga exclaimed, "WE CAN'T SEE!"

"YEAH," Ryuzaki roared, "GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF THE WAY!" But the cameraman paid them no heed.

The whole time, Anzu still couldn't believe it was actually happening. She was now officially a Valentine model! True, that dream was second to her dream of being a dancer, but it was still on the list of dreams come true. And as she caught a brief glimpse at the Mutou brothers and their friends smiling at her—especially Atem, the love of her life—she couldn't help but smile in return as she struck a pose and then made her return stroll back to the stage. Indeed Honda wasted no time taking pictures; he was really getting into this! But the crowd really went wild when all the models lined up and returned for an encore of their fashion, with Mai at the end of the line. The fashion queen winked at her fans before she and her beloved models went backstage to prepare for the next part of their show.

"Oh Crud!" Ryuzaki groaned, "We missed the new girl!"

"Stupid paparazzi!" Haga growled, "We didn't even get a chance to see her!" The playboys both stood there blinking before they faced each other, grinning as they got the same idea

"LET'S GO BACKSTAGE!" they both stated. And immediately they bolted toward the back, hoping that they won't get noticed since they have no backstage passes.

"Yeah! We can still get a sneak preview of the bikinis!" Haga noted.

* * *

There was laughter backstage as the models rejoiced at their success. "Oh Anzu!" Mai stated, giving her new model a hug, "I'm so proud of you! You really knocked their socks off tonight!"

"Yeah, you should have seen all those people gathering around you!" Kisara noted.

"Thanks… but we've barely gotten started." Anzu admitted sheepishly.

"And that's why you need to get ready for the avant-garde swimwear collection." Mai reminded turning toward her other models, "Now let's get going ladies. We've got some nosebleeds to make!"

"Right!" the models replied and giggled, and they hurried over to their dressing rooms, all of them unaware of the danger lurking in the shadows. Bakura, Vivian and a reluctant Varon nodded to each other, then began sneaking over to one of the dressing rooms on the far left. At the same time, a certain pair of perverts managed to get by into their destination and had now snuck behind some curtains.

"Wow! We're actually backstage!" Ryuzaki gasped in excited awe. "I wonder where the new girl is?"

"I dunno." Haga replied with a shrug.

"Let's look over in the dressing rooms. I'm sure she must be over there."

"Oh, good idea." And immediately the playboys hurried over to the right of the backstage area.

* * *

The girls busied themselves choosing out their favorite swimwear from the latest line. Anzu and Kisara had yet to choose their favorites among the wardrobe, so they had not started dressing yet.

"Maybe I should do this swimsuit with the dragon wings and tail," Kisara stated, pointing to a beautiful light blue bikini outfit with a pattern similar to scales.

"It's beautiful Kisara!" Anzu replied, "It really brings out the color of your eyes." At that moment, the two perverts inched their way into the dressing room, unnoticed by its beautiful occupants. Both boys were grinning like maniacs at what they were seeing.

"This is even better than the runway!" Haga chuckled, "We get to have our own backstage peep show!"

"All right, you got me inspired!" they heard Anzu declare, "I'll take the yellow and orange fairy look!"

The bug boy and dino boy looked over and their eyes were full of hearts. "Look… it's her!" Ryuzaki gasped, "The new Valentine model! The same girl we saw at Lady Valentine's place! And she's even more gorgeous up close!"

Haga did a wolf whistle and whispered, "C'mon, we just have to get close to the action!" And with lusty chuckles, they snuck inside trying to find a good hiding place. Even so, neither could get their eyes off of the new model, who began to undo the top of her dress. "Hee hee hee! She's taking it off!" Haga noted and for some reason he couldn't control it anymore. He blurted, "YEAH BABY, TAKE IT OFF!"

Immediately Anzu spun around, and her eyes widened in shock as she laid eyes on the two promiscuous playboys before her. In fact, every girl in the dressing room was looking at them.

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Just as immediately, there were screams as the models quickly covered the exposed parts of their bodies.

"Nice going bug boy, way to blow our cover and ruin the show!" Ryuzaki snapped at his partner. But soon they looked up just in time to see Anzu standing right in front of them. And she was fuming.

"You—PERVERTS!"

Seconds later, the two perverts in question were running out of the dressing room, with the angry model hot on their heels. "HELP!" they screamed in horror, "OUR BEAUTY'S TURNED INTO A BEAST!"

Meanwhile, back in crowd, Atem somehow took notice of the commotion taking place behind the runway and immediately became concerned.

"What is it Big Brother?" Yugi asked.

"Something's going on backstage!" Atem replied, standing up from his seat. "And it sound like Anzu's part of it!"

"You know, now that you mention it, she sounds pretty angry back there." Jonouchi noted. "Maybe she's caught some peeping toms in the act and is chasing after them?"

"Perhaps," Atem replied, "but just to be sure everything's all right, I'm going to check it out. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Okay." Yugi stated as his brother made his way through the crowd and behind the curtains, where he immediately began his search.

"Anzu?" Atem called out, "Anzu? Where are you? Are you all right back there?" Suddenly, without warning, a hard stick darted out of the shadows and struck the elder Mutou twin on the back of the head. He was out cold in an instant, and collapsed face down on to the floor. Soon the unconscious form was dragged away into the shadow.

Once he was sure his victim was well hidden, Marik chuckled as he searched his pockets. "Sorry Mutou…" he sneered as he got the photo evidence from the elder Mutou twin's jacket. "But I'm afraid your big reveal isn't going to be happening anytime soon." And with that, the Egyptian thief ripped the photo to shreds. Then he hurried over to join Bakura and the other thieves.

* * *

"Anzu?" Mai shouted above the noise when she arrived at the back of the hall leading to the dressing rooms. "What's going on? I heard the girls screaming and…" The fashion queen didn't get to finish her sentence as a terrified Haga and Ryuzaki sped by with a scream, as did a furious Anzu, who was still chasing them in hot pursuit. Neither the chaser nor the chased even noticed Mai as they once again disappeared down the hall. "O-kaaay… I guess that answered my question." She had walked past the dressing room of her favorite models when suddenly a pair of hand grabbed hold of her from behind, covering her mouth and dragging her backward. Her eyes widened with shock as she recognized her attacker.

"Don't move a muscle." Bakura threatened. Of course, the fashion queen's shock gave way to a glare, and she jerked her head away from the hand that held her mouth.

"What do you want Bakura?" Mai demanded, "Let go of me!"

The master thief then took out a knife, pointing it toward his captive. "You think I don't know what you're planning, Lady Valentine? Well, I'm not going to let you spoil to fun I'm going to have here! In all honesty though, I didn't expect you to catch on to what I did to your partner in fashion."

"You bastard…!" growled the fashion queen.

"You're lucky that you got away with your life last time, so listen well: I'm not going to finish what I've started… yet. In light of your plans for tonight, I've decided to use another way to keep you from ratting us out." Bakura then spun her around toward the dressing room. Mai was horrified. There, right before her, were her favorite models, all bound and gagged, all being held captive by Vivian and an unhappy Varon—including Kisara!

"Girls!" Mai gasped.

"You get it now?" Bakura stated with a wicked smirk, "We've got a plan of our own, and if you interfere, your little models are going down." As if to prove her master's point, Vivian took out a gun and pointed it to Kisara's head. Right at that moment, Marik came running in with a look of satisfaction.

"I took care of the photograph." The Egyptian thief announced, "Now we can go on with phase two."

"Nice work." Bakura stated, shoving Mai toward Varon. "You ready, Vivian?"

"Of course." The Chinese ex-model replied, handing her blue-eyed captive to Marik and adjusting her hair so she could put on a blue glam-style wig.

The Master thief adjusted his bow tie. "Let's get the show on the road."

* * *

Back out at the runway, everyone was growing a bit impatient about the next part of the show. But Yugi and his friends had something else in mind. "The second part of the show is going to start soon," Yugi noted, "And Atem still hasn't come back yet. He's gonna miss out."

"Maybe he had to go to the bathroom or something." Honda guessed with a shrug.

At the very same moment, Kaiba was making preparations to introduce the next part of the Valentine collection, when Bakura stepped up. "Excuse me. Seto Kaiba?" he queried.

"Oh Bakura." Kaiba stated, "You rarely show yourself like this. Is something going on back there?"

"Uh, yes." Bakura replied, faking concern. "If you would please come with me backstage, I'll show you what I mean."

Annoyed, the teen millionaire let out a sigh. "This better be worth my time." And with that, he followed the so-called 'second in command' behind the stage. And once he was there… "WHAT?!" Kaiba exclaimed, "Lady Valentine's top models have gone missing?!"

"That's right." Bakura replied, "Apparently, they have bailed out at the last minute. We were able to find replacements for most of them, but we still need one for Kisara."

"But the top models would never bail out!" Kaiba roared, "Especially not Kisara! They love modeling so much that quitting the show is unthinkable!"

"It doesn't matter now." Bakura reasoned, "What matters is that we need to find a stand in before the next show gets started."

"Oh! Oh, I can stand in! Let me take over!" a high pitched voice squealed and in an instant the disguised Vivian appeared, all dressed up in her blue hair wig and the avant-garde bikini that Kisara was planning to wear. She took on the persona of a squealing fangirl, raising the pitch of her voice in hopes that her victim wouldn't recognize her.

Bakura, faking surprise, asked, "And who might you be?"

"Oh I'm Rachel! And I've always wanted to be a fashion model!" Vivian explained in her act, "The Valentine Models are my favorites, with all the cool stuff they get to wear! See? I'm all dressed up in their swimwear right now! So can I go on the runway in Kisara's place, please?"

"Hmmm, well…" Bakura replied, "We'll see if Kaiba approves. He is the host of New York City Fashion Week this year."

"Shouldn't we ask your superior about this?" Kaiba suggested, getting a strange feeling that there was something familiar about the girl before him.

"She's, uh, busy trying to bring her top models back." Bakura replied.

The teen millionaire turned toward Vivian. "Well…"

"PLEEEEASE?" Vivian repeated with big sparkling puppy dog eyes.

Kaiba let out exasperated sigh and, against his better judgment, replied, "All right. You can take Kisara's place until she gets back. But you better not mess up."

"OH THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" Vivian squealed, wrapping her arms around the teen millionaire, "I promise I won't let you down!" It was at that moment that she slipped a certain piece of stolen jewelry into Kaiba's trenchcoat pocket. It was so well-hidden on her person and her reaction time on the hug was so fast that he didn't even notice what was going on.

"Yeah, yeah," Kaiba grumbled, "Now hurry up and get ready. You'll be on in about 30 seconds." And with that, the disguised Vivian hurried over to take her place on the runway.

"Why don't you let me announce the next line?" Bakura suggested with a smirk, "It's highly unlikely that Lady Valentine would return in time."

"Be my guest." Kaiba answered and both men hurried back to the main stage.

The Master thief chuckled to himself and thought, _Now, for phase two._

* * *

The audience cheered loudly once Kaiba returned to the spotlight, completely unaware of the fate that will soon befall him. "Thank you for your patience, ladies and gentlemen." Kaiba announced, "I think it's high time we pick up from where we left off, right?" The crowd went wild in response. "All right, now here to introduce our next line is a man who rarely shows his face in the public eye, but is considered trustworthy in the eyes of Lady Valentine. May I present to you… Bakura Akeifa." There was a round of applause as Bakura stepped up to take the microphone. But Yugi, Jonouchi and Honda all stared at the Master thief in shock.

"Bakura?!" Jonouchi gasped, "What's going on?! Why is he on center stage?!"

"Thank you everyone!" Bakura greeted, "I'm sorry that Lady Valentine couldn't be here for the second half of her summer fashion show. As of this moment, she had some urgent business she needed to take care of. So until she returns, I will have the honors. And now, without further ado, I present the Lady Valentine avant-garde swimwear collection! That's right, I'm talking about beautiful girls in the most sexy fantasy bikinis ever made on Earth, so for all you playboys out there in the audience this is the moment you've been waiting for! Now let's get it on!" Again the audience erupted into cheers. Soon a new upbeat soundtrack began to play, and flashing lights dazzled, all signaling the start of the show. However, this time the young reporters were not attentive to the fashion show itself.

"I don't know about you guys," Honda stated, "but I smell something fishy going on here!"

"Yeah, me too!" Yugi agreed. "Why would Bakura take Mai's place as the announcer of the next line?"

"I got a bad feeling about this…" Jonouchi muttered. "Hey, Yugi! Go backstage and find your brother! That goon is up to something, and if my gut feeling is correct, there's a good chance that Mai is in danger again!"

"Right!" Yugi replied, and in a flash he got out of his seat and rushed toward the backstage area. Or at least, he tried to. Unfortunately, a large crowd of perverts had decided to gather around the runway as the models each passed by in their fantasy swimwear, thereby impeding the younger Mutou twin immensely. He swore under his breath, but realized that he had no choice. Slowly, he pushed his way past the crowd, hoping that nothing bad had happened to his elder brother. The whole time, he, like his friends, was looking toward the catwalk, hoping to find anything suspicious. So far, though, everything seemed normal. But backstage, a certain crony of Bakura readied for the next move.

"All right Vivian," Bakura whispered, "Do your stuff!" The disguised ex-model nodded, and strutted into the spotlight. More wild cheers erupted as she came on and cameras flashed like crazy as she traveled down the runway. Although the vain thief enjoyed her time on stage like she always did, she didn't let it distract her from her covert mission. _Wait for it…_ she thought to herself, _Wait for it…_ Finally, she reached the end of the stage, and struck a couple of poses, making certain that she was at the very edge as she did so. _Now!_ In a flash, she let herself slip and faking shock, she fell from the runway into the fountain. The crowd stared and gasped in alarm, especially Kaiba. The music stopped in an instant, and as Vivian slowly came up from out of the water, she inwardly smiled. The reason was, number 1: the waterproof adhesive on her wig was working perfectly, and number 2: she had successfully pulled off her little stunt. And just like she and the other thieves had planned, Kaiba was fuming.

"Damn it!" he cursed, "I told her not to mess up, and what does she do? She messes up! She's just officially made herself a laughingstock of the entire fashion industry!" Still, he reasoned, it would be bad if he didn't help her out. He approached the sneezing 'Rachel', pushing past the crowd.

"I-I'm sorry!" Vivian sobbed in pretend misery, "I don't know what went wrong! Everything was going so perfectly up to this point! I can't believe I just slipped! I've ruined everything!"

"Hey now, there's no need to mope." Kaiba reassured, "Here, you can have my coat. Just let me get my stuff out of my pockets so they don't get wet…" Just as he reached into one of his said pockets, the teen millionaire felt cold metal against his fingers. He peered at the hand in his pocket and did a double take. "Hey… hold on! What the hell?!" He pulled his hand out and revealed the strange contents: a gold necklace. He stared in shock. "This isn't mine!" he exclaimed, "What is this?! Where did this come from?!"

Right at that moment, Bakura snagged the necklace. "This necklace looks awfully familiar!" he stated, and handed it over to the disguised Vivian. "Do you recognize this?" Taking the necklace, Vivian stared at it before she let out a gasp.

"It's Lady Valentine's necklace!" the ex-model replied, "But… where are the diamonds?"

"Well! In either case, the evidence doesn't lie." Bakura announced, and pointed at the teen millionaire exclaiming, "It's Seto Kaiba! HE'S the one who stole Lady Valentine's necklace AND killed Mystique!"

The whole audience gasped, but their shock did not compare to that of Kaiba's. "What?! NO! What gave you that idea?! I DID NO SUCH THING! There's no way that necklace would be in my pocket!"—He stared into his trenchcoat pocket again.—"Unless…" Slowly he looked up at the Master thief, as he finally put all the pieces together. Before he knew it, the fires of rage built up within him. "You…!" he growled, and he could contain it no more. "YOU BASTARD!" In an instant, he lunged at Bakura, intending to choke the thief. "YOU TRICKED ME!" Kaiba roared, "YOU LYING, THIEVING, MURDERING SNAKE!"

"Well, look who's talking!" Bakura insulted confidently, "Security! Take him away!" The security guards obeyed, and pried the angry teen millionaire away.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Kaiba bellowed as he got handcuffed, "YOU'RE A DEAD MAN, BAKURA! YOU HEAR ME? A DEAD MAN! THEY HAVE DNA TESTING, YOU KNOW! AND WHILE I'M AT IT, I'M CALLING MY LAWYER!"

Back in the audience, Yugi and his friends stared bewildered at the scene before them. "Whoa!" Honda gasped, "Kaiba's a big jerk, but he's certainly not that big of a jerk!"

"If the real thieves weren't right in front of us, I'd say that Rich Boy got what he deserved." Jonouchi stated.

"JONOUCHI!" Yugi yelled angrily.

"All right, all right!" the sandy blonde quickly replied, "I get the point Yugi!"

"We have to find my brother, and fast!" Yugi explained as he neared the backstage area, "He's the only one who has our photo evidence, and we have to use it to expose the real thieves and prove Kaiba's innocence before the police take him away!" Finally, to his relief, the younger Mutou twin broke from the crowd and passed the curtains. "Atem?" he called out, "Atem, where are you? We've got an emergency!" It didn't take long for him to hear a moan from a shadowy corner. Filled with concern, Yugi followed the sound. There, he found the elder twin, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Atem! Gasped Yugi, "Are you all right?"

" Ow…" Atem groaned, "Yugi…? What just happened? I was searching for Anzu, when something hit me on the head…"

"You can look for Anzu later Big Brother!" Yugi stated, "Right now, we've got a big problem: Kaiba's been framed!"

"WHAT?" Atem shouted in shock.

"Bakura took Mai's place as the show's announcer and set him up! We have to show everyone the photo evidence, now!"

"Oh, right!" replied the elder twin and he reached into his jacket pocket—only to find that it missing. "Huh? Where is it?"

"Atem? What happened?"

"The photo evidence! It's gone! Help me find it!" The two brothers searched frantically for the missing photo, until suddenly, Yugi stopped. There was a look of dread in his eyes.

"Uh… Atem?" Yugi murmured, "I think the cookie jar just got busted."

"What do you mean?" Atem asked, and his little brother pointed to the floor. His eyes widened with dismayed shock. There, all over the floor, were the tattered and torn remains of their photo. Their only evidence has been destroyed. "DAMN IT!" Atem bellowed slamming a fist against the wall, angry at himself for letting his guard down. Just when he thought they were one step ahead of the murderous thief and his thugs, they had once more slipped through his fingers.

* * *

Back at the front of the runway, reporters were gathered around Bakura to have an interview about the unexpected turn of events. "As everyone knows, in spite of some moments of brightness, Seto Kaiba had always been known to be a selfish, spoiled young man, quick to insult those he believes to be inferior to himself. I'm glad the world is finally rid of that menace; Lady Valentine would be very pleased to hear this."

"Would she hire any more men like him as a Fashion Week sponsor?" a reporter asked in curiosity.

"After she hears about tonight, I highly doubt it."

"And what of the most famous gem in Lady Valentine's possession, the Millennium Diamond?"

"As of tonight, it is no longer in her person or among her other belongings. She will disclose the exact location of the diamond later. Now if you'll excuse me, this interview is over." And with that, the Master thief walked away, escaping to the backstage area to reach the farthest dressing room. All the while, he was smirking, congratulating himself at ridding himself of yet another rival. Finally, he reached the very back of the dressing room, and swung open the door. The whole time, Mai and her favorite models were all forced to see the whole thing on their TV monitor, and she could do nothing but watch helplessly as Kaiba got framed for theft and murder. Vivian had already thrown off the disguise by the time her master arrived. And Marik was no less pleased when Bakura stepped in.

"Great acting, Master Bakura." Marik complimented. "That will keep the public distracted for a while."

Mai glared at the thieves. "You're not going to get away with this!"

"And why not?" Bakura taunted, "Since Seto Kaiba had been publicly 'exposed' as the murderous thief, it's highly unlikely that the authorities would believe you. But I'm not taking any chances." Once more he pointed his knife toward the fashion queen. "Now you listen carefully. You tell us the location of the Millennium Diamond. If you don't cooperate…" the Master thief directed the Egyptian to point the gun at the head of a terrified Kisara. "I hope you're prepared to say goodbye before I have them blow her brains out." Bakura chuckled.

Mai couldn't stand it, and burst into tears. "Don't hurt her! I'll tell you!"

"Where is it then?"

"It's on display at the Marquis Gallery!"

Bakura smirked in satisfaction. "Very good."

"Can you please let go of my girls now?" Mai pleaded.

"Not yet." Bakura replied, "They'll be coming with us. They have their uses after all. But I assure you, if you disclose any of this to the police, we will kill your lovely little girls one by one." And with that, he and the other thieves made their way toward the exit, with the captive Valentine Models in tow. "One more thing. Once the Millennium Diamond is in my possession, I'm coming back to finish you off. Farewell." One by one, the thieves departed. Varon lingered, however, and the expression of sorrow was written upon his face.

"Mai…" the biker stated sullenly.

"You told on me didn't you?" Mai spat accusingly, "That's why your new master knows what I was going to do. And now you're going to go out and help commit the biggest theft and murder in history! You're a real traitor, a stain in the memory of all the Wart Hogs!"

Varon flinched at the harsh accusations, knowing full well that they were true. Finally, with tears in his eyes, he replied, "I guess I am… but if I say I have no regrets about it all, I'd be lying." And with that, he left to join the other thieves. Yet even as the love of his life stared at him in dismay as he departed, his heart was in a state of turmoil.

* * *

"Hey you!" Anzu barked, wandering the halls, "Come out and face me!" The new Valentine model huffed in frustration. "Grrr, where could those perverts be? Once I catch up with them, I'm going to rearrange their faces!" Right at that moment, she saw some shadows coming in her direction. She gasped in shock as she recognized the shadows at once. "The thieves!" Immediately she rushed around, searching for a place to hide before finally settling to go under the table. And as chance would have it, she was right in the face of two certain perverts.

"EEYAAAA!" they screamed in panic when they saw her.

"Please don't kill us!" Ryuzaki begged.

"We won't do it again! We promise!" Haga pleaded, and the two boy continued with their begging until at last, she covered both of their mouths.

"Shhhh! Keep it down!" Anzu stated, "They'll hear you!"

Haga and Ryuzaki both stared in amazement before they asked, "Who'll hear us?"

The thieves all came into view, and with them their bound captives. Anzu was horrified to discover Kisara among them. "This couldn't be any more perfect!" Vivian snickered, "Lady Valentine was right when she said that the Millennium Diamond would no longer be in her possession—because it will be in our possession!"

"Oh yes! You got that right!" Marik agreed.

"Tomorrow night, we'll be taking a little trip to the Marquis Gallery." Bakura explained, "And these lovely ladies will help us out all the way. The diamond will be in our hands by midnight, and when that is done, we'll do away with everyone: First, these models… and then Lady Valentine herself! Now let's get to it! We have no time to waste!"

The whole time, the thieves were all unaware that Anzu was hiding in the shadows under the table along with Haga and Ryuzaki, all listening in on the conversation that took place.

And they all had heard everything.

Note: How Awful! Bakura and his thugs are on a roll in their wicked endeavor, silencing Mai by taking her models hostage! Luckily for her, our heroes finally decide to step up! But they're going to need some help, and Mai herself just so happens to be on the list. Will Jonouchi get her out of her funk? And how are the Mutou brothers going to rescue their cousin? Find out in the next chapter! Until Next Time!


	11. Taking Matters to their Own Hands

Note: It took a little while to work on this one, but I managed to finish up with this chapter! There's tons of suspense and humor involved, along with a special moment that you Polarshippers have all been waiting for!

**Nautilus Tide: Plus, there's another part of my personality that you can learn about, and it's got a lot to do with computers!**

ANYWAY, with Bakura planning to make his move, how will our heroes respond? Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Taking Matters to their Own Hands

Later that night, the four reporters returned to Motel Joy, their minds filled with the events that had occurred in the fashion show. Their friends were equally shocked as to what had happened. "No way!" Coral gasped, "Your cousin just got arrested and sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit?!"

"I'm afraid so." Atem confirmed, "Those scum were even smarter than we thought. Somehow they've figured out what Mai was planning and prevented her from exposing them."

"Yeah," Jonouchi added, "And I'm sure Varon has something to do with it! They even destroyed the photo evidence so we wouldn't use it against them and prove Kaiba's innocence at the same time. We're basically back to square one thank to those goons!"

"Dude! This is crazy!" Obelisk stated.

"We've only encountered Kaiba a few times and even I admit that he's a pain in the ass," Slifer noted, "But it's clear to us that he would never go as far as to steal and kill in the fashion industry."

"I'm just glad that he's going through DNA testing tomorrow morning." Nautilus stated, "If that wouldn't prove his innocence, I don't know what will."

"Yeah, but if that wasn't bad enough, we could find neither Mai nor Anzu after all this." Yugi added. "It's as if they've disappeared." Indeed, there was a hint of worry on the reporter's faces, especially Jonouchi and Atem.

"I can't help but feel that something bad has happened to them." Atem muttered, and his body started quaking with fear and rage. "Bakura had better not laid a finger on Anzu! Otherwise there will be hell to pay!"

Right at that moment there was a knock on the door to their room, followed by some annoyingly familiar voices yelping in pain. "I'll get it." Emeraude stated and went over to answer. Raphael and Amelda were standing outside. "Oh, hi guys! What's going on?"

"A young lady just came in dragging a couple of nitwits." Amelda explained. "She's asking to see Atem Mutou right away." Upon hearing his name, the elder twin spun around in surprise.

"Really?! Who was it?!" he asked

"I'm sure you'll know her when you see her." Raphael stated. In that instant, Atem sprung from his chair and sped outside. He couldn't believe his eyes! There was Anzu Mazaki, still in her dress from the fashion show, dragging a certain bug boy and dino boy by their ears in each hand!

"OW! OW! LET GO!" Haga yelped.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO DRAG US IN LIKE THIS!" Ryuzaki complained.

"Well that's what you get for being peeping toms in the dressing room!" Anzu snapped.

"Anzu!" Atem exclaimed, running toward her. Only when she laid eyes on her boyfriend did the Valentine model let go of the twerps and sped toward him.

"Atem!" she gasped and they embraced each other like there was no tomorrow.

"Oh Anzu! Thank Ra you're all right!" Atem stated before breaking the embrace. "I thought for sure Bakura and his thugs had gotten a hold of you!"

"Yeah, about that." Anzu replied "That the reason why I'm here. Along with these two." She gave an angry glance at the two perverts, who were rubbing their ears after the ordeal they've gone though.

* * *

"So there we were, backstage under a table." Ryuzaki explained once he and Haga were allowed to join the others in the motel room.

"We were trying to hide from your cute crazy girlfriend over here; she was gonna kill us both!" Haga noted.

"Quite understandable since you were sticking your noses where they don't belong." Honda muttered.

"Anyway, on with the story!" Ryuzaki quickly stated, "She managed to find us and go under the table with us, when right at that moment this guy Bakura and three other people came along with the other models, all bound and gagged and being threatened by weapons!" The others all gasped in horror.

"But that's not all!" Haga added, "We overheard their plans to steal the Millennium Diamond,"—he grew weepy-eyed at the thought of those damsels in distress—"and they're going to force all those beautiful girls to help them!"

Shocked at what he had heard, Atem faced his beloved. "Is it true Anzu?"

Anzu bowed her head. "Yes. If I hadn't gone out to chase those perverts, I would have been taken hostage along with Kisara and the others. You might say that they saved me in a sense."

It was Jonouchi that put all the pieces together. "So that's how the thieves kept Mai from speaking out! They've kidnapped her favorite models and threatened their lives!"

"And that must be how they managed to frame Kaiba and cover their own tracks! If Mai had interfered, they wouldn't have succeeded!" Honda reasoned.

"Did you get any information as to what they're planning?" Yugi asked.

Anzu nodded and replied, "They're going to stake it out tomorrow night at the Marquis Gallery. And once they get the diamond at midnight… they're going to kill all the models and then go after Mai."

Jonouchi's eyes widened in horror, but soon the horror gave way to anger and his hand curled into a fist. "Those goons!"

"What are we gonna do?" Emeraude asked in concern. "The authorities won't get the results of the DNA testing until a few days after tomorrow! By the time Kaiba's name is cleared, the damage would already be done! And since Kisara is his girlfriend, he'll be heartbroken if she gets killed!"

Atem let out a sigh. "We have no choice. We're going to have to take matters to our own hands!"

"You serious?!" Honda gasped.

"Yes." Atem answered, "There's no point in seeking a news story when our enemy is two steps ahead of us. The only way to stop him now is to take him down ourselves!"

"It's about time!" Jonouchi stated, "I'm sick of staying in the sidelines like the other investigative reporters!"

"Me too! I'm with you Big Brother!" Yugi piped up.

Otogi stood up. "So let me get this straight: The four of you guys are gonna go out and catch those thieves red-handed, right? Well, I've only got one question to ask about that. What color are their hands now?" Everyone else gave the cabbie a glare and a growl. "H-hey, I'm kidding!" he stated hurriedly with a sweat drop.

Atem continued, "As you are going to find out soon enough, this mission is going to be dangerous. Knowing Bakura, the chances are high that they're going to be armed with powerful weapons. If anything goes wrong, there's bound to be death. So if there's anyone brave enough to join us, speak now." There was an eerie silence in the whole room, as the others looked at one another.

"I'm in!" Anzu suddenly spoke, earning a gasp of shock from everyone.

"Anzu no!" Atem exclaimed, "You've already escaped from Bakura's clutches! I won't let you take that risk! I would be devastated if you got hurt—or worse, killed!"

"Well you know what Atem?" Anzu snapped, "That's exactly what I feel about Kisara and the others! And in case you've forgotten what Mai had told you, I'm an excellent fighter when I need to be and now is one of those moments. So please Atem! You have to let me help you!" Atem was utterly speechless at his girlfriend's determination. But after a while, his expression softened. He had to admit, he admired the girl's courage; she was much more brave than the other models, that's for sure.

"All right Anzu." The elder Mutou twin finally replied, "I guess it's obvious that there's no use in convincing you otherwise." And with that, the lovers kissed.

"Well, now we got one volunteer." Jonouchi noted before facing the residents and workers. "Any more volunteers to help us out? We need all the help we can get!" Again, there was silence among the group. Then after a tense moment, Slifer stepped forward.

"I'm in!" he announced and stepped by the reporters' side.

"All right." Yugi stated, "Is there anyone else who wants to join us?" He was met with worried silence. "Anyone?" he repeated. There was no answer. Slifer let out a sigh of frustration when it was clear that no one else was volunteering. He could see the fear and uncertainty written all over their faces.

"I figured this would be the case." He muttered, and stepped up to face his friends. "Look, I understand what you guys are feeling right now. And to be honest, I'm just as scared as you are about the whole thing! But there's actually one thing that scares me even more." He curled his hand into a fist as he continued, "I'm afraid of what's going to happen if we let those monsters have their way! That's why I'm stepping up to the challenge! I mean, what we're about to do tomorrow—it's not a very smart thing to do. But if it's the right thing to do, who gives a damn?! I sure don't! Besides… we're all in this together!" The others stared in awe at the speech the lead guitarist had given them. Then Nautilus smiled.

"You know what Slifer Mon?" he stated, "I was waiting for a moment like this! Because guess what: I don't give a damn either!" he stepped forward, "I'm in!"

Emeraude gave a confident smirk and a thumbs-up, feeling inspired. "Me too! You can count on me!"

"I'm ready to lend a hand too, Dude!" Obelisk announced cracking his knuckles, "I'm all pumped up about clobbering the bad guys!"

"Perhaps I could be of some assistance!" Coral added.

"I've got some fighting experience back from my Wart Hog days!" Amelda stated with a wink.

"Those creep aren't gonna know what hit 'em!" Otogi announced proudly. Seeing all those people enthusiastically stepping up to help the reporters, Haga and Ryuzaki stared at each other.

"Hey Ryuzaki!" Haga whispered, "You know the girls are kidnapped, and you know what that means?"

"Yeah," replied the dino boy in sudden excitement, "If we help rescue them, we'll be living the good playboy life for sure!" They both imagined themselves in a bed, surrounded by scantily clad Valentine models, and chuckled like the perverts they are. They immediately turned toward the Mutou twins.

"Uh… this may be a bit weird coming from us," Haga stated, "But I'm gonna help too."

"Yeah, so am I!" Ryuzaki added, "We'll make sure those bastards don't lay a finger on those Valentine Models!" The four reporters already sensed the ulterior motives of the two playboys, but they kept silent and smiled. They were just glad that they're getting extra help.

Raphael also gave a smile. "It's moments like this that make me glad I work for the Helping Hands Foundation. I, too, will do what I can."

"Thank you everyone." Atem replied. "However, there is one catch. We won't be able to succeed without Kaiba's help. So I'm going to break him out of prison and bring him to the Marquis Gallery."

"Don't you mean 'we', Atem?" Yugi asked.

Atem stared at his little brother with a serious look. "No Yugi. This is something that, for once, I need to do on my own… and this time, I mean it."

There was a look of disappointment on Yugi's face. "But… but you can't do this alone!" he tried to reason, "You'll get caught! Let me come with you, you need my help!"

"No, I don't." Atem explained, "I want you to concentrate on intercepting the thieves while I help Kaiba escape. Besides, The way I see it, I think you've been in my shadow for way too long."

The younger twin blinked in surprise as his brother's words sank in. "You know, when you put it that way…" he soon gave a smirk that made Atem proud, "Yeah… you're right! This is my chance to shine! I'll work on intercepting the thieves and I'll make you proud!" But soon there was an angry glare. "But you still can't rescue our cousin by yourself!"

"I know that, Little Brother." Atem replied with his own smirk, "And I have no intentions of going alone. Raphael and Amelda will join me in this endeavor… along with one other person. You lead the rest and head over to the gallery without us. We'll meet you there once we bust out Kaiba. We need you to stall Bakura long enough for us to get there."

"You got it!" Yugi stated,

"Just be careful Atem." Anzu pleaded.

"Don't worry Anzu," Atem reassured, "I will. All I ask of you is for you to do the same." The Valentine model nodded in agreement.

Yugi turned toward his friends. "All right guys, gather round! We've got to think of a plan while we still have time!"

"Right!" Slifer agreed, and the others gathered. Suddenly, there was a snapping sound, followed by the screams of Haga and Ryuzaki. It turned out that they had taken a seat on the faulty bed and now everyone saw their feet kicking like crazy as they struggled to get out from being squished. "As for those two," Yugi added, "They can have a good night's sleep; we'll let them in on the plan tomorrow."

"Let's head over to the other room Dudes!" Obelisk exclaimed, and the others were quick to follow him to the rock band's quarters. Raphael and Amelda lingered on a bit though.

"We definitely need to get some new beds." Raphael noted. Then the light bulb fell from its place in the ceiling, plunging the room into darkness.

"And some new lights too." Amelda added before he and his fellow Wart Hog went out to join their friends.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the New York state prison the following morning, one of the guards came in striding through a row of cells. Each cell contained a varying number of criminals doing various activities to while away the day. Some spent the time reading, some thinking deep thoughts. If they're lucky to have a roommate, they would be chatting or playing poker. Finally the guard stopped at one cell in particular.

"Seto Kaiba?"

The falsely accused teen millionaire looked up from his seat with a glare. Gone was his usual expensive wardrobe, replaced by sneakers and an orange jumpsuit. There was no doubt that he was angry at his predicament. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"Your lawyer is here to see you." Informed the guard.

At that, Kaiba rose to his feet. "Well it's about time! I thought he was never gonna show up this morning!" With that the guard unlocked his cell with a key card. The teen millionaire did not hesitate to stride to the waiting room. There he found a man in a business suit from the other side of the window.

"You have two minutes maximum." The guard reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Kaiba muttered and sat down facing his trusted business employee. "Isono… what took you so long?"

"Forgive my tardiness Mr. Kaiba." The businessman, Isono, replied. "The traffic was particularly horrid this morning."

"Whatever. Have they gotten started with the DNA testing?"

"Yes sir. You'll have the results in two days from now."

Kaiba growled. "Great… Two days in the slammer with no bail… I'd rather stay with my cousins in that dump in the slums. At least I won't be stuck in one room."

"Not to worry sir," Isono reassured, "we'll try to speed up the process as much as we can." Kaiba only let out a sad sigh, and the lawyer immediately sensed the reason. "You're worried about Miss Kisara, are you not?"

"Why would I not be?" Kaiba answered, "I haven't seen her since the first part of the fashion show. For all I know, she might be in danger with Bakura out in the streets."

"I can tell that you really love her, Mr. Kaiba. After all, she's beautiful, sensitive, and—dare I say—vulnerable."

"Vulnerable… that's the part that bothers me. And it's all the more reason for me to get out of here and protect her." Kaiba sighed, "She's the only girl worthy to receive the gift of my heart, and if that snake manages to lay a finger on her..." The teen millionaire slumped in his chair and let out another sad sigh.

Isono stood up, adjusting his glasses. "In any case, my time is just about up. We'll talk more later all right?"

"Fine." Kaiba reluctantly agreed. And with that, the businessman departed.

* * *

Later that same day, Jonouchi knocked on the door to Mai's mansion. He couldn't help but feel a little worried. She had gone through so much in the last two days, and he wasn't sure how he was going to go through with what his friend had requested him to do. Soon the door opened, revealing the butler Neville. "Oh, hello Jonouchi!" Neville greeted, "What brings you all the way here?"

"Hey. I'm here to see Mai, if she's not too busy that is." Jonouchi explained.

Neville's expression softened. "Your timing couldn't be any more perfect, my boy. She really needs your help right now. Come on in."

"Do you know where she is?" the sandy blonde asked once he came inside.

"She's in the art studio." The butler replied.

"Thanks." And quickly, he headed in the direction of the studio. Upon his arrival, though, he slowed his approach. Mai was sitting there, idly drawing on her sketchpad. He could tell that she was feeling much worse than she did the night she was robbed of her necklace… the same night she almost died. It broke his heart to see her that way. Pushing that aside, he braced himself for the task ahead. "Um… Mai?"

The fashion queen spun at the sound of his voice, and her eyes were sparkling with surprised relief. "Jonouchi!" she gasped, rising up to embrace the sandy blonde. "It's been only a few hours since I saw you last, but it felt much longer!"

"Well I'm here now." Jonouchi reassured. Then he stared deep into her violet eyes. "You don't have to tell me what's wrong; I already know about how Bakura and his goons kidnapped your favorite models. Anzu told me everything."

"So she didn't get captured?" Mai asked.

"Nope." The sandy blonde replied.

"Thank God!" Then suddenly it dawned on her. "Wait… How did she know about what happened?"

"She caught up with a certain pair of peeping toms when the thieves came along. She went hiding under a table and overheard everything."

"I see…" she sighed. "It's too bad I can't tell the authorities. With Kaiba publicly accused of theft and murder, it's unlikely they'll believe me anyway. Still, that son of a bitch said that he'll kill the models if I give away any information."

"Unfortunately that exactly what he's going to do anyway." Jonouchi explained. Mai stared at her boyfriend in horror as he continued, "Tonight, the thieves are gonna have a little rendezvous at the Marquis Gallery and make an attempt to steal the Millennium Diamond."

"Tonight?!" she gasped.

"Yep. And come midnight, once they have the Diamond in their possession… they're going to spill the gallery with the blood of your models."

Upon hearing this, she instantly found herself in tears. "Oh no! It's all my fault!"

"It's not your fault Mai." Jonouchi stated, "If anyone is to blame for all this, it's Bakura." He grinned at the next part of his explanation. "But don't worry, our friends and I are gonna make sure it's not going to happen."

"You mean our friends from the motel you're staying in?"

"Yep! I'm going with Yugi to the gallery tonight in order to intercept the thieves. The only catch is, we need Kaiba's help in order to stop them. So tonight, Atem and a few of your old Wart Hog buddies are gonna go bust him out of jail."

"Raphael and Amelda?" Mai gasped in surprise.

"That's right, but they need one more person to pull this off. This may seem a bit incredible, but… that's where you come in, Mai."

"M-me?!" the fashion queen stuttered.

The sandy blonde placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just because your so- called 'second-in-command' can keep you from telling the cops doesn't mean he can stop you from joining us in our mission. Last night, Raphael told me a bit more about what you were like as a member of the Wart Hogs. Turns out you were more than just a fashionista—you were a fighter in your own right. Together, you took part in a lot of adventures. You even outraced an entire squadron of cops. The more I think about it, the more I could see where you got that fiery personality of yours. It makes me wonder why such a strong woman like you would let that murderous thief psyche you out."

Mai blinked in amazed realization, as something she thought she had lost awakened within her. "…Yeah… You have a point there Jonouchi! Why should I let Bakura control me like that? He's not the boss of me!" Where once were violet eyes filled with fear and doubt, there was now a glare of determination and confidence. "Hell, if he won't let me call the police, then I'll just fight him and his thugs myself!"

"So you'll help us out?" Jonouchi asked.

"Absolutely!" Mai replied with a smirk, "You and friends have helped me in so many ways! And thanks to you, I now realize that I can stand up to the man who killed Mystique! So I think it's about time I return the favor and help you guys avenge her death and rescue my girls!"

"Ha ha ha! Now that's the Mai I know and love!" Jonouchi laughed joyfully.

The fashion queen smiled at him, a sparkle in her eyes. "And I love you too." Slowly, the two of them came closer, and closer still… until at last, their trembling lips met in their long awaited passion. Neither lover wanted this moment to end, but very soon, they had to break the kiss in order to breathe.

"Be careful, Mai." Jonouchi finally stated.

Once more, the fashion queen gave a playful smirk. "You know, you took those words right out of my mouth!"

And Jonouchi grinned, winking and giving his beloved a confident thumbs-up.

* * *

That very night, the thieves had gathered with their hostages at Bakura's office. The terrified girls all whimpered at the thought of their fate. On one corner, Varon was staring out at the window, thinking back on the events that had occurred the night before. The whole time since he left the Wart Hogs, he thought that serving Bakura was the best way to win the heart of his dream girl. Now, however, he was beginning to realize that it was all just a terrible mistake. "Hey! HELLO! Earth to Varon!" Vivian snapped, grabbing the biker's attention.

"Oh! S-sorry… just got a lot on me mind right now."

"Honestly, you've been doing a lot of daydreaming since your little reunion with Lady Valentine." Marik complained. "Snap out of it already! We've got to get ready for our heist!"

Reluctantly, Varon stepped toward the table. "All right…" he mumbled.

"Good." Bakura stated, holding out a piece of paper, "Now let's go through the list one more time." Placing the list on the table, he began to read the items one by one. "Glass cutter."

"Check." Marik stated.

"Nylon rope."

"Check." Varon confirmed.

"Computer deprogrammer."

"Check." Vivian answered.

"Stopwatch."

"Check." Marik confirmed, holding the item in question.

"Pocket Laser."

"Check." Varon noted.

"Infrared reflector."

"Check." Vivian stated.

"Portable detonator."

"Check." Varon answered.

* * *

At the same time at Motel Joy, Yugi, Jonouchi and Honda were making their own preparations along with Otogi and the rock band. Jonouchi and Honda were standing by Nautilus as he skillfully tapped on the laptop keyboard. "Cool!" Jonouchi complimented, "I didn't know you were a computer wizard!"

"Thank you, Jonouchi Mon!" Nautilus replied, "If necessary, I'm also a hacker extraordinaire. Most of the time, I hack into the mainframe of evildoers."

"Awesome!" Honda mused, "What's your hacker pen name?"

"If I told you that, I'd have to cut off your tongue and castrate you."

Honda grew pale and replied, "Uh, never mind then!"

"Well, we've got everything we need!" Yugi announced, "Nylon rope, various disguises, Nautilus' computer program, and some other tools necessary to navigate the Marquis Gallery and make our entrance."

"I'm also bringing a friend of mine for some extra help!" Slifer stated, petting what looked like a forest green wolf, "Isn't that right, Hendrix?" The wolf, Hendrix, barked as if in agreement.

"HEY EVERYBODY!" Haga yelled in excitement.

"We got a list of supplies for the interception!" Ryuzaki exclaimed, holding up a piece of paper.

"Oh NO!" Emeraude murmured, and everyone else groaned.

"Aw c'mon!" Ryuzaki stated, "This stuff will come in handy!"

"Dude, I don't think we need any of your bogus supplies…" Obelisk replied, but apparently neither the bug boy nor the dino boy was listening.

"Okay, let's get started!" Haga announced.

"Let's see…" Ryuzaki began, "Um… Whoopee cushion."

"Hmmm, I think it's on the bus…" Haga mused.

"More like on someone's butt…" Jonouchi groaned.

""Rubber raft." Ryuzaki continued.

"It's got a lot of holes in it—just like Haga Mon's brain." Nautilus stated. That of course, earned an annoyed growl from the obnoxious pair.

"Bag of chickens." Ryuzaki stated.

"A perfect description of you two." Anzu mumbled.

"I concur fully!" Coral agreed.

Ignoring that comment, Ryuzaki went to the next item. "Fake barf."

"Seriously, you're gonna make me barf for real!" Slifer moaned.

"SHUT UP AND HELP!" Haga blurted.

"Frisbee." Ryuzaki continued.

"Oh, I think we lost that one." Haga noted.

Yugi let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm so glad Big Brother's not around to see this…"

* * *

Back at his headquarters, Bakura continued with his own list. "Pneumatic drill."

"Check." Marik confirmed.

"Computer printout."

"Check." Varon acknowledged.

"Radar gun."

"Check." Vivian stated.

"Cellphones."

"Check!" Marik and Vivian announced together with a smirk.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the prison, one of the guards was looking through all the TV screens recorded by the prison security cameras. "Another boring night… and as usual, nothing out of the ordinary."

Apparently, the guard spoke too soon.

Suddenly, one of the TV screens turned off and displayed nothing but snow and white noise. Then another, and another. "Eh? What's going on here?" It wasn't long before all the TV screens in the camera room were shut down. The guard picked up a phone. "Uh, Warden? I think the security cameras are out of power again."

At the other part of the prison, a vent was blasted open. Out climbed Atem, accompanied by Mai and Raphael. "All right everyone," Atem whispered, "we're in."

"Good thing we took care of those security cameras before we entered." Mai murmured as they sneaked through the cells, "This is the one moment I don't want their eyes on me."

Raphael smiled. "It's just like old times, isn't it?"

"Yeah," the fashion queen replied, "It is very nostalgic. In fact, I didn't realize until now how much I missed you guys."

"That makes two of us." The military man reassured. "It's great to have you back Mai." The trio continued to sneak down the hall, and soon Atem peeked from behind a wall.

"We've got a lot of guards ahead." Atem confirmed.

"Tch, that's gonna be difficult." Mai noted.

"Not to worry, I know just how to deal with them." Atem stated with a smirk. He then took out a wind-up toy and placed several smoke bombs inside it, setting it up so each bomb would ignite successively one by one. Then he wound up the toy and let it go toward the guards. As it rolled into view of one of the guards, the first fuse was lit up.

"Huh?" the guard muttered in confusion. That was when the first smoke bomb exploded, covering the guards in a thick sheet of smoke. Atem smirked in satisfaction when he heard the guards coughing.

"H-hey! What's going on? I can't see!"

"Somebody turn on the sprinklers!"

"Is this some kind of joke?!"

"That'll keep them distracted," Atem noted to his companions, "Now let's go."

"Right!" answered both Mai and Raphael, and the trio quickly rushed to find Kaiba's cell. Luckily, the search didn't take so long.

"A-ha! There he is!" Atem stated, then ran over calling to his cousin. "Kaiba!"

The teen millionaire looked up in surprise. "Atem? Lady Valentine? What are you doing here?"

"We're here to get you out of this joint." Raphael explained.

"Do you have the key cards Mai?" Atem asked.

"Sure do!" Mai replied, holding up said key cards.

"Good. Now see which one opens his cell."

"You got it Hon!" And with that, the fashion queen set to work. She swiped the first card in the slot. "That's not it. Geez, so many key cards, so little time!"

"L-look," Kaiba snapped, "You have no need to do this Atem! The results for the DNA testing will be released in two days from now, and the authorities will let me out then!"

"Yes," Atem retorted, "But by the time that happens, Kisara would already be dead!"

"WHAT?!" Kaiba exclaimed in horror.

* * *

"Wax lips." Ryuzaki read from his list. "Aw man, I just had those!"

"Did you leave them in your other pants?" Haga asked.

"… We stowed away on the plane to here, remember?" Ryuzaki finally answered, "I didn't bring any other pants, and my underwear doesn't count!"

"Carry on then." Haga stated, while Yugi and his friends groaned in obvious disgust.

"Yo-yo." Ryuzaki continued.

"That's you all right." Honda noted, angering the dino boy. The others laughed a bit at that comment.

"Good one Honda!" Emeraude chuckled.

* * *

"Harpoon gun." Bakura read.

"I think that you Mate." Varon reminded the Master thief.

"And I've also got the rifles and shotguns for the rest of us." Marik added.

"Great. Then that settles it." Bakura concluded. The thieves shut their suitcases and placed their hands on top of one another's. "Let's do this!" And with that, they each grabbed hold of a hostage, with Bakura taking hold of Kisara.

"All right ladies, time to head out!" Vivian mocked, holding a gun to a model's head, "Whether you like it or not!" And then they all departed.

* * *

"Peanut butter." Ryuzaki stated.

"The drummer boy ate it this morning!" Haga snapped. Obelisk fumed, realizing that the bug boy was talking about him.

"WELL EXCUSE ME FOR BEING HUNGRY!" the drummer bellowed. Haga and Ryuzaki just groaned.

"Anything else on that stupid list of yours?" Anzu asked sarcastically.

"Uh… no." Ryuzaki finally replied in defeat, crumpling up the list and tossing it to the side. "That's it."

"Thank God!" Coral sighed in relief, and the rest were equally relieved.

"I'm glad that's over!" Slifer stated.

"Yeah," Jonouchi agreed, "That was a complete waste of our time!"

"All right, you guys ready?" Yugi asked.

"Ready and willing!" Emeraude replied enthusiastically.

"You said it!" Otogi added and all the reporters and their friends placed their hands on top of one another's.

"Then let's do this!" Yugi announced. And with a cheer, they all left the room. At first, Haga and Ryuzaki just stared at the scene before them. But soon it dawned on them that they had to leave as well.

"Hey! Wait for us!" they shouted and sped after the whole team. And as they did so, the last good light bulb fell from its faulty lamp on the ceiling and shattered to pieces as darkness enveloped the room once more.

* * *

Back at the prison, Mai swiped another key card in an attempt to unlock Kaiba's cell, with the same disappointing result. "Damn! It's not that one either!" she growled.

"So let me get this straight," Kaiba stated, "Bakura and his thieves have kidnapped my girlfriend, along with some other models, and now they're going to raid the Marquis Gallery tonight?!"

"That's right Kaiba!" Atem confirmed, "Yugi and the rest of our friends are on their way to intercept them, but without your aid, it's not going to be enough! Come midnight, those scum will lay their filthy hands on the Millennium Diamond; and once that happens, they'll slaughter each and every one of their captives, including Kisara!"

"God damn it, why didn't you say so in the first place?!" Kaiba barked.

Raphael took a glance at the corner at the sound of another explosion. "We're down to our last two smoke bombs!" he warned, "Hurry!"

"I'm trying Raphael!" Mai snapped in frustration.

The teen millionaire growled. "At this rate, I'll never bust out of here before midnight! I'd screw the keys if I were you!"

The elder Mutou twin's eyes lit up with inspiration. "You're right… Screw the keys Mai!"

The fashion queen stared at him in shock. "What?! But how are we going to bust open that cell?!"

"Raphael can handle this one!" Atem replied. It didn't take long for the military man to grin like a maniac.

"Hey, I know what you got in mind!" he stated, "And I accept! Stand back!" With that, he strode over to Kaiba's cell and grabbed hold of the iron bars. He took several deep breaths to pump himself up for his task.

"GO FOR IT!" Atem and Mai shouted simultaneously.

With that encouragement, Raphael let out a loud bellow… and pried the two iron bars apart with his bare hands! Then the military man let out an exhausted breath in satisfaction.

Needless to say, Kaiba stood there, staring in bewilderment at what he had just witnessed. "W-wow..." he finally stuttered, "I…I'm impressed!"

"Kaiba, stop gawking and get out of here!" Mai barked, snapping the teen millionaire out of his trance.

"Oh, right! Thanks!" He sped out of his cell to join the others.

"Ready to kick some ass, Cousin?" Atem asked.

"When we get there, I'll kick it straight to outer space!" Kaiba replied.

"Copy that!" Raphael agreed.

"Anything to rescue the girls!" Mai added.

"Then let's do this!" Atem stated, "Now GO! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" Not a single one of the elder twin's team hesitated to sprint away like a lightning bolt, passing by the guards just as the last smoke bomb exploded.

Note: And so it begins! Kaiba is now free thanks to Atem and his team, but will they be able to join Yugi and the others in time stop Bakura and his thugs? Find out in the next chapter! Until Next Time!


	12. Gallery Raid

Note: Sorry it took so long, but I finally managed to get the latest chapter of this story done! It was hard work thinking up what happens and what ties in my ideas. I've just finished reading the entire original Yu-Gi-Oh manga series for a second time, this time with the addition of Yu-Gi-Oh R, and I had to gather my muse up after such an accomplishment. Before I get myself carried away with the chit chat, let's get on with the story! The raid of the Marquis Gallery begins, both for the heroes and the villains. And for Atem and his side of the team, the countdown has already started. Better brace yourselves, because a ton of laughs courtesy of Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuzaki are coming your way! As well as "A very brief cameo" for those familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh R. Enjoy!

Chapter 11: Gallery Raid

Soon, that very night, Bakura, Vivian, Varon and Marik sped by in the Master thief's black car, holding their hostages close to them. Kisara struggled in vain to free herself from Bakura's grip. "Brace yourself, Blue Eyes." He taunted seductively, "Tonight is going to be a night to remember… too bad you and your friends won't live long enough to witness my triumph…"

At the same time, on another street, Yugi and his team were speeding toward their destination in the rock band's tour bus—with Otogi behind the wheel! "AUGH!" Anzu screamed, "OTOGI, CAN'T YOU SLOW DOWN A LITTLE?!"

"AND LET THOSE BASTARDS GET AHEAD OF US?" Otogi answered with a mad grin, "I DON'T THINK SO!" He made a sharp turn to the right at that moment, knocking nearly everyone to the side.

"THAT'S IT! OTOGI MON, YOU ARE NEVER DRIVING THIS BUS AGAIN!" Nautilus yelled.

"OH SNAP!" Slifer noted to the crazy cabbie, "YOU JUST MADE HIM MAD!"

At that very moment, the thieves finally arrived at the parking lot on the back of the Marquis Gallery. "Okay," Vivian stated once they got out, "The first thing we need to do is take care of those security cameras."

"I'll take care of this!" Marik suggested, and dragged out his captive. Cutting the ropes to free the model's wrists, he shoved her toward a power box. "Cut that wire right here." He demanded. When the model hesitated, he pressed his rifle to her back. "DO IT!" Finally the fearful model obeyed. Soon the cameras were deactivated.

"There!" Bakura stated with a smirk, "Now let's head on in!" He motioned the others to follow him to a wall, then aimed his harpoon gun near a window. It hit its mark. The Master thief tugged the rope just to make sure it was on tight. "All right, ladies first!"

"Don't mind if I do." Vivian replied, and aimed her gun to the other models, "Get up there! NOW!" Varon shoved the girls toward the rope and made sure they started climbing. Again, it was out of reluctance on his part. Once they were certain the girls were on their way with no escape, they starting climbing themselves.

* * *

At the prison, a laundry truck was rolling out from the front door, ready to clean another batch of dirty jumpsuits. The driver, of course, was completely unaware of four passengers clinging to the very back of his vehicle. At this moment, in the camera room, the security cameras finally flashed back on. The guard scanned over the screens and was shocked to find the commotion going on with his fellows. "What the—what's going on here?!" Soon however, his shock increased when he saw an empty cell, with iron bars bent sideways. He immediately turned on the intercom. "Security! One of our prisoners, Seto Kaiba, has escaped! Find him!" The other guards scrambled to search for their escaped convict, unaware, at first, that he was long gone.

Once he was certain that the prison was out of sight, Atem shouted, "Now everyone, JUMP!" And everyone leapt from the truck, rolling on the ground upon landing.

Once they got up and brushed the dust off, Kaiba stated to his cousin, "Thank again guys. Now we have to get some transport so we can hurry to the Marquis Gallery."

"Where's Amelda?" Mai asked.

"He's gone somewhere to find a certain group of people." Raphael answered, "He wouldn't say who, and I certainly don't know when he'll come back."

"Well, there's no use waiting for him." Atem noted, "Let's go find some transport that can take us to the gallery. I only hope that we can get there in time."

* * *

Back at the gallery, Yugi and his team parked the bus nearby in a place where they couldn't be seen. Of course, with Otogi driving, it was more of a screeching halt. Once everyone was sure it stopped safely, the whole team rushed out. "All right everyone," Yugi whispered, "get your Noh masks ready. You never know when those guards might spot us." The others quietly agreed, putting on various mythical masks found in Japanese Noh plays. Only Haga and Ryuzaki was without a Noh mask; instead, the only thing they put on were Groucho Marx glasses. And they were not very happy about it.

"No fair!" Haga complained, "You guys get all the cool stuff! All we get is some stupid glasses!"

"Yeah," Ryuzaki added, pointing to the lame disguise on his face. "Why can't we get a Noh mask?"

"Look, we ran out, okay?" Coral snapped, "At least you guys got something." The obnoxious pair groaned.

Nautilus peered through his tengu mask at his laptop. "It looks like our targets have already arrived on the scene. Fortunately, they haven't entered the building yet so we still have time to catch up. And as a bonus, we don't have to worry about security cameras—they're all offline."

"No doubt Bakura took care of that for us," Yugi reasoned, "But getting inside the gallery still isn't going to be easy. For this part of the plan, we'll be splitting into two teams of six." The younger twin took a glance at his best friend, "Jonouchi, you'll be leading Honda, Slifer, Emeraude, Obelisk and Ryuzaki."

"Sure thing Yugi." Jonouchi replied, "We'll try to sneak in on the other side of the fence and meet you at the back of the gallery."

Yugi nodded and faced the others. "The rest of you will come with me."

"Got it." Anzu answered.

"Sure," Haga stated, "Dino boy would be crimping my style anyway."

"HEY!" Ryuzaki yelled, earning glares and shushing noises from the others.

"Keep it down!" Honda hissed quietly.

"We'll call you when we need some help." Jonouchi stated, holding up his cell phone. "Is that all right with you?"

"Yup." Yugi replied, "See you at the back of the gallery." With that, the heroes split up. The younger Mutou twin turned toward his part of the team. "You guys brought a blow torch, didn't you?"

"Of course," Otogi replied, pulling it out of his knapsack and passing it to Anzu. "I also brought some dice in case any guards show up."

"Yeah, you sure hit hard with those things." Coral noted. The Valentine model handed the blowtorch over to Yugi.

"Thanks." He stated, turning it on and adjusting the heat. Once he got it to the desired temperature, he went to work on the iron bars in front of him. Under the intense heat of the flames, the metal started dripping like a fast-melting candle. "This will only take a few minutes, but if all goes well, we'll be making our entrance from here."

Meanwhile, at the front of the gallery, Jonouchi's side of the team approached the front gates. As it was expected, the gate was shut tight. But that didn't stop the others from marveling at the sight of the building before them.

"WOW!" Ryuzaki exclaimed loudly.

"SHHHHHH!" the others hissed at the dino boy with a glare. Hendrix let out a low growl as well.

"We told you to keep quiet!" Emeraude whispered.

"Sorry." Ryuzaki murmured.

"Okay, let's get on to business." Jonouchi stated. "Honda, hand me the blow torch."

"Uh, Jonouchi?" Honda replied, "I don't have it with me."

"Well where is it?" the sandy blonde asked.

"I think Yugi's got it." Slifer answered.

"At least I got the ropes." Emeraude noted, "But climbing over this gate is way too risky."

"All I got with me is a roll of paper towels." Obelisk stated, pointing to Ryuzaki, "Blame that dude. He wouldn't stop bugging me until I agreed to bring it with us." Said dino boy glared.

"Great…" Jonouchi groaned, "How are we going to get inside if we don't have the tools to bust through the gates?"

"A bottle of acid would come in pretty handy about now." Slifer mused, "That'll eat through the bars for sure!"

Ryuzaki blinked once. Then twice. "Eat through the bars?" he murmured, "Now you're making me hungry. I could use a good snack: Granola bars, mango marshmallow bars, chocolate bars…"

"If you're so hungry," Obelisk joked, "then maybe you could eat through those iron bars."

Unfortunately, Ryuzaki took that suggestion quite seriously… and literally! He grinned.

"Great idea!" he exclaimed, and to everyone's dismay, he grabbed hold of some bars—and started biting into the middle bar, letting out a loud long grunt as he did so!

"AUGH! NO! NO! KEEP IT DOWN!" Obelisk shouted in panic. But it only made the situation worse. Some guard dogs heard the commotion going on, and with a growl began to alert their masters.

Remarkably, the dino boy actually succeeded in his endeavor, ripping the bar off with the sheer strength of his teeth. With said bar still in his mouth, he poked his head into the hole he had made—and his eyes widened with shock. In fact, so did the eyes of the rest of the team, for far ahead of them, they saw the guards speeding right toward them. But what was rushing far ahead of the guards shocked them even more.

"GUARD DOGS!" Emeraude screamed, pointing at the dogs in question. Instantly, the others screamed in panic as well, including Ryuzaki, who dropped the iron bar as he did so.

"I knew bringing that twerp along was a bad idea!" Jonouchi shouted.

"RUN!" Slifer yelled. And the rest of the gang did just that. Thankfully, they managed to get away before the guards could take a good look at them.

Back on the other side, Yugi had just finished burning through the iron bar on the wall, and had created a hole for his team to enter when they heard the commotion going on from the front. They immediately became concerned. "Oh no!" Yugi gasped, "They haven't got caught already, have they?" As if to answer that question, the cell phone, set on vibrate, started buzzing.

"Apparently not." Anzu noted, "They wouldn't be calling us if they did. Put it on speaker."

Once that was done, Jonouchi started speaking. "Y-Yugi! You have no idea how lucky you are right now! We almost got caught!"

"Yeah, no thanks to that bozo standing with us!" Emeraude added angrily.

"But you told me to eat through the bars!" Ryuzaki complained.

"I MEANT THAT AS A JOKE!" Obelisk yelled.

"WELL, HOW SHOULD _**I**_ KNOW?!" Ryuzaki yelled back.

This led Yugi to slap his forehead and groan in frustration, having figured out exactly what happened. Haga snorted. "You see Yugi? Just like Dino Boy to crimp our style."

"Oh, and you're not planning to do the same?" Otogi snapped sarcastically.

"Shut up…" Haga growled.

"How are going to get in and join you now?" Honda asked.

"Let us think of something!" Yugi replied. After a few tense seconds Nautilus looked up from his laptop.

"We're in luck guys." he announced, "I've just scanned the current phone records, and it turns out one of the guards had just ordered a couple of pizzas from a parlor that's open late at night."

"Uh, why is that lucky for us?" Jonouchi asked skeptically. But Coral smiled.

"Hey! I get what you're implying!" she stated, and headed over to the bus. The cute chef immediately took out some fabric and faced her teammates. "You guys go on in. Leave the rest to me!"

* * *

On the road, Atem and his companions scanned the roads. "There has to be some transport somewhere." The elder twin murmured.

"Well, it better come soon." Kaiba snapped, "The longer we waste time, the sooner Kisara dies!"

"Be patient, Kaiba." Raphael calmly reminded him. It was not long before they caught sight of a large cement truck at a nearby gas station. A large tough-looking man with long brown hair and sideburns had just finished filling up and was now on his way to heading back to his job.

"Now's here something we can ride in!" Mai mused with a smirk. "Let me see if I can convince him." The fashion queen strode toward the truck. "Yoohoo!"

That got the trucker's attention. He turned toward her, his cigarette hanging on the side of his mouth. "Ah, well if it isn't the world famous Lady Valentine!"

"You don't happen to know the exact location of the Millennium Diamond, do you?" Mai asked.

"Oh you mean the one at the Marquis Gallery?" the trucker answered, "That place is a virtually impregnable fortress many miles from here!"

"Well, I need to get there in exactly half an hour." Mai explained.

"Heh, you obviously wouldn't make it on foot."

"I realize that." Mai stated, "So how about you do me a favor and give me and a couple of friends a ride."

The trucker burst into mocking laughter, much to the fashion queen's irritation. "I guess you didn't read the sign."—he pointed to the sign in question—"It says here plain and simple: **No Passengers**."

"Well, surely you can make some exceptions can you?" Mai asked.

"Sorry Lady," the trucker stated, growing callous, "but I have a job I'm proud of doing, and I'm not the kind of guy to bend the rules and turn this truck into a taxi cab. I make no exceptions."

"Not even for a world famous celebrity like yours truly?" Mai asked.

"NO!" the trucker barked, "NOT EVEN FOR A GOD DAMN CELEBRITY! NOW BEAT IT!"

Mai huffed in anger, but she managed to keep her cool. "Oh well, I tried to be nice… but you leave me no choice!" She snapped her fingers. "GET HIM, BOYS!"

The young men, who had been witnessing the whole conversation, didn't hesitate one bit. Raphael went forward and pried open the door, startling the trucker to no end. "H-HEY! WHAT THE HELL?!" Before he could protest any further, Atem and Kaiba forcefully grabbed hold of him and tossed him out. With a scream, he crashed landed right by a dumpster.

"C'mon! Let's go!" Atem shouted, and the whole team went inside the cement truck. With Raphael behind the wheel, they drove off. The trucker barely had time to recover from his forced ejection and found a young man walking out of the convenient store, carrying a garbage bag. On his shirt was the nametag identifying him as Richie Merced.

"Hey!" Richie called out, "What's all the racket?"

The trucker looked up in surprise. "Who the hell are you?"

Richie laid his garbage bag down and sighed, "Just an ordinary hobo trying to mind his own business."

With that, the trucker also let out a sigh. "So am I, bro. So am I."

* * *

At the Gallery, Bakura and his thugs were still sneaking by on the rooftops with their hostages in tow, unseen by many, but unaware that Yugi's team was tracking them. It didn't take long before they caught sight of the window they were seeking. "There it is." Bakura stated with a smirk. "Varon?"

"Sure." The biker replied, and took out a laser beam. Soon the lock was broken and they swung the window open. "C'mon now MOVE IT!" Varon shouted as he shoved his terrified captive inside a gunpoint, along with Marik and Vivian. Bakura grinned wickedly once everyone was inside.

"So far so good." He chuckled.

* * *

On the road, Atem and his team were speeding down the highway in the cement truck, the rhythm of heavy metal music vibrating within. "Does anyone notice the irony of all this?" Atem asked.

"You mean the fact that we had to steal somebody's ride to stop another theft?" Kaiba queried.

"Exactly!" his cousin answered.

"How far are we from the Gallery?" Mai asked the military man.

"We still got a ways to go." Raphael replied. "That being said, we have to make sure there are no roadblocks of any kind to slow us down." It was then he spotted a radio device with a built-in intercom. "Ah, what a coincidence!" he mused with a smirk and picked it up. "Breaker 9, this is Soldier Boy. You read me?"

A voice with an accent of a hip hop artist replied through the speaker. "What up, Soldier Boy, this is Chocolate Fire! What's yo 20, over?"

"We're westbound out of Hellgate. Any smokies between me and Funky Town?"

"Negatory Soldier Boy," the voice answered, "You free and clear for takeoff!" The others understood the message and quietly cheered.

"10-4 Chocolate Fire." Raphael stated, "I appreciate it! We got the hammer down and we're gone! Over and out!" And with that, the military man hung up the intercom. "Hang on tight everyone!" He stepped on the pedal and they were off.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the front of the gates, Coral, in a flattering pizza delivery disguise, approached a guard who was pacing on the other side. "Hello there, did someone here make a call to Shakespeare's Pizza?" The guard took one glance at the cook and there were hearts in his eyes.

"Y-yes… We made an order." The guard, turned on by Coral's appearance and eager to have his pizza, approached the gate. "Did you get what I asked for on the phone?"

"Yes sir," Coral replied, "I have two large triple cheese, two large supreme and one medium pepperoni with double cheese."

"Huh? Pepperoni?" the guard queried. "I don't think we ordered pepperoni."

"That's strange." Coral stated in faked confusion, "I could have sworn that someone ordered a pepperoni."

"I'll tell you what," the guard suggested, "I'll open the gate for you and we can straighten things out, all right?"

"Of course sir!" Coral replied cheerfully.

As the guard approached the electronic gate opener, Jonouchi turned toward his side of the team, all hidden in a nearby bush. "Get ready everyone." he stated.

Soon the button was pushed and the gate slowly opened. Once it opened all the way, the guard stepped sheepishly toward the supposed delivery girl. "There we go." He stated, "Now may I please see the slip?"

"Of course." Coral replied, digging into her pocket and taking out a piece of paper. As she handed the slip to the guard, Yugi, who was already inside, motioned his friends to sneak in and join him. The others quickly did just that as the guard read the slip aloud.

"Let's see… two large triple cheese and two large supremes… Yep, there's no pepperoni."

"Really?" Coral gasped, taking the slip. Then she let out a giggle. "Oh, silly me! We must have gotten an extra order by mistake! Sorry about that!"

Ryuzaki lingered to stare at the scene, but was quickly grabbed by Slifer and dragged inside. "That's okay Missy, I'm glad I got that straightened out for you." The guard replied.

"Still, the staff worked so hard to make that pizza." Coral mused, "It would be a complete waste if we just threw it away."

The guard couldn't help but feel sympathy for the girl. "I have an idea! How about feeding that pizza to the dogs?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! Unlike me, they love pepperoni! And they can't work on an empty stomach."

"Oh thank you!" Coral replied, handing her homemade pizzas to the hungry guard as he handed the payment.

"Much obliged! Have a good night" By then both halves of Yugi's team were past the gate, and Coral dashed to the entry made by the younger Mutou twin to throw off her disguise and join them.

* * *

Back at the truck, things were going smoothly for Atem and his team, until…

"Huh? What's that noise?" Mai asked. Indeed, there was a strange noise coming from the truck. Atem looked down and his expression turned to shock.

"Oh no!" he growled, "NOT NOW!" The others looked down to see the gas gauge. The handle was on 'E'.

Raphael cursed, realizing that they were out of gas. He, Mai and Atem look over to Kaiba as if to ask what to do. The teen millionaire frowned.

"What am I, a gas station?" he snapped. The others groaned in response.

"I just had to be such a glutton for punishment…" Mai muttered.

"At least you're not alone this time." Atem answered.

* * *

Inside the gallery, the thieves were navigating the corridors, dragging their captives and avoiding anything that would trigger the alarms. "These bitches are getting to be a pain." Vivian complained. "You can never take your eyes off them."

"That's why they're going to help us in a certain room." Bakura answered, and he pressed the gun at Kisara's head. "Isn't that right Blue Eyes?" The gagged Kisara just shuddered in horror.

* * *

Outside of the gallery, Yugi's team had ditched their masks and were now looking at the main building. "Hey guys!" Haga stated rather loudly, earning some glares and shushing noises from the rest of the gang. The bug boy got the message and lowered his voice. "Guys, how do we get in?"

"Well, we can't just ring the doorbell." Honda replied, "That'll get us caught for sure."

"Just be glad this gallery doesn't have a doorbell." Anzu stated. "In either case, there just has to be a way to get in here."

"Yeah, and we better think of something fast!" Nautilus reminded, "By the looks of it, the guard dogs are almost finished with the pizza that Coral Chan made!" Haga and Ryuzaki shook nervously at the sight of the dogs in question.

Emeraude scanned the building, looking upward. Then her eyes lit with inspiration. "I know!" she stated and rushed over. Before any questions could be asked, she threw the rope up toward the roof. Once it was secured at the top, she stared climbing. "We'll take it to the rooftop! Hopefully we'll find an entryway from there."

"Good thinking Emeraude!" Yugi complimented.

"Yeah, way to go!" Slifer added, while Hendrix barked his approval before climbing onto his master's back.

"Let's get to it!" Jonouchi declared, and he too started climbing. Following the example of the sandy blonde and the green tomboy, everyone join in on the endeavor.

Well, almost everyone.

Haga and Ryuzaki were still on the ground. "Hey! You guys!" Obelisk called out, "Are you gonna come up and join us?"

"Uh, no thanks…" Ryuzaki murmured.

"Yeah," Haga agreed, "We're, uh, scared of heights and all that."

"Actually, we don't have any mountain climbing gear." Ryuzaki muttered.

Otogi frowned. "We don't have time for lame excuses like that."

"That's right." Nautilus added, "You either suck it up and climb, or you can just stay here and watch for the guard dogs."

"G-guard dogs…?!" The perverts stuttered. Suddenly, as if on cue, there was a loud barking coming from behind everyone. They looked over to see that the two guard dogs in question had just finished their dinner and were now hot on their trail.

"Oh CRUD!" Nautilus shouted in terror, "GET A MOVE ON!" The others that were in the midst of climbing did not hesitate and climbed faster. Haga and Ryuzaki, however, were not as fast to react. They slowly turned around, to find the dogs fast approaching. It took only a few seconds before they screamed like little girls, and only then did they do a mad dash toward the rope. The two perverts were so panicked, in fact, that they started climbing the very people that were on it!

"OW!" Anzu yelled.

"Watch it!" Coral shouted. But the terrified duo paid no heed as they grabbed clothes, pulled hair and stepped on faces just to get to the top, all the while screaming the whole time. They even wound up pulling Obelisk's pants down, exposing the drummer's boxer shorts for all to see! And when they started grabbing at the underwear in question, the drummer had to hold it with one hand to keep that from being pulled down too. Eventually, the twerps managed to reach the rooftop to join Emeraude and Jonouchi, stepping on Slifer to do so. The guitarist shook his head to compose himself, then quickly climbed up to join his friends. Nautilus and Otogi followed. But Obelisk, who was hanging in the middle, was now stuck in place by his awkward position, blocking the rest of the team below him.

"They're gaining on us!" Yugi shouted, eyeing the guard dogs.

"PULL UP!" Obelisk screamed in panic. The others on the roof immediately got the message, and started pulling the rope to assist their fellows. Finally, they dragged the drummer over to the top, allowing the rest of the team to finish their climb. At last everyone had made it, tired but safe. The guard dogs from below barked even more loudly than ever, annoyed that their prey had managed to escape their grasp.

"Okay, that was not fun!" Honda stated.

"You're telling me, Dude!" Obelisk agreed as he pulled his pants back up.

"So what are we going to do about those dogs?" Jonouchi asked.

"We have to do something…" Coral added, "They won't stop barking until the guards come over to investigate. We'll be caught for sure!"

"Then I guess it's good thing to have a diplomat at a time like this." Slifer replied, motioning his dog. "Give them a little chat Hendrix." Hendrix padded over to the edge to look down at the other dogs, then barked back as if to explain the situation. Apparently, there was a clear understanding, for the guard dogs whined, then made a hasty departure. Seeing that the problem has been resolved, Hendrix returned to his master and friend, wagging his tail. "Good boy!" Slifer praised, allowing the green husky to lick his face. Suddenly, the old paparazzi camera flashes brightly, momentarily blinding the guitarist and his dog.

"Honda!" Yugi hissed, while the others groaned.

"It wasn't me!" Honda protested, then took out the camera in question. "Aw man, of all the times it had to act up, why did it have to be now?!"

* * *

As Atem's half of the team exited the now useless cement truck, the mood was bitter. "I know you don't want me to ask you this," Mai stated, "But now that we lost our means of transportation, what else could go wrong?" Kaiba looked up and saw a clock nearby. His expression revealed shock and anger at what time it was showing.

"Oh GREAT!" he barked sarcastically, "It's almost midnight!"

"Your right!" Atem noted, "We have to do something, NOW!"

It was at that very moment that Raphael turned toward the road. "HEY!" he shouted in amazement, "HEY LOOK!" He pointed at the road, and the others stared in awe as five bikers zoomed into view. They swerved toward them, coming to a complete stop by the side. And on one of the motorcycles sat a certain androgynous ally.

"AMELDA!" the others gasped, as he gave his friends a confident smirk and a thumbs-up.

"What's up, guys!" he greeted, "I figured you might need some assistance!" The other four bikers got off their motorcycles, and one of them handed Kaiba his famous wardrobe, much to the joy of the teen millionaire in question. "Hop on as soon as Kaiba's ready!"

Atem smirked, his heart filled with gratitude. "Your timing couldn't be any more perfect."

* * *

Inside the gallery, the thieves approached the door leading to the one room that they were seeking: the control room. "Here it is." Marik whispered, "You do the honors Master."

"With pleasure." Bakura replied, taking up the laser beam and using it to undo the lock. Once inside the control room, the master thief cut the ropes on Kisara wrists. "All right Blue Eyes," he stated, "time for you to shut down the alarm system."—he shoved the blue-eyed model toward a touch-screen computer—"Don't try to escape!" With a gun pressed against her head, the terrified Kisara reluctantly obeyed, and set to work on imputing the code set to deactivate the alarms.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the roof of the gallery, Nautilus was peering onto his laptop for an update on the whereabouts of the thieves in question. "Hmm, the thieves have managed to enter the building. But the good news is that they haven't reached Millennium Diamond display room yet. We don't have much time! We need to find the display room before they do!"

"Guys! Check it out!" Anzu exclaimed, grabbing the attention of the rest of the team.

"Did you find an entrance to the gallery?" Yugi asked.

"Better!" Anzu replied, pointing to the skylight near her, "I think I've just found the room with the Millennium Diamond!"

The others gasped in amazement. "Are you sure?" Yugi queried.

"Not really. Nautilus, what does the gallery map say?"

The vocalist looked into his laptop again. "Well, the visuals say that it's somewhere on the first floor… wait! There's a skylight directly above it! And it's positioned…" He looked up and smiled. "…right by where Anzu Chan is now!"

"All right!" Jonouchi cheered, "Way to go Anzu!"

"Awesome!" Otogi stated, "Now we don't have to find an entrance to the Gallery—we can get inside through here!"

"No, not yet!" Nautilus warned, "This window has been equipped with a digital alarm system."

"Nautilus is right you guys." Yugi agreed, "We'll have to shut off the alarm before we can set up our sneak attack."

"But how?" Emeraude asked.

"Well, DUH!" Ryuzaki replied, "That's where Nautilus comes in! He did say he's a hacker, right?"

The vocalist kneeled by the skylight, surveying his target. "Okay, let's get started." He stated, downloading his personal hacker program. No sooner had he gotten started that he got a perplexed look on his face. "That's odd… it looks like it's being blocked by another hacker program. This has never happened before." So he opened his tracker to find the source. "I see… so our thieves are already in the process. Well in that case, let's save them the hassle and finish the job for them." Nimble fingers tapped away on the keyboard as the screen flashed in a colorful pattern of codes. "C'mon… bypass that thing!" When it became clear that nothing had changed, Nautilus let out a small shout of anger and turned toward the bug boy. "Haga Mon, something is interfering with my program! Go tap on the window and find the source!"

"WHAT?!" Haga exclaimed, "WHY ME?!"

"Do you want to rescue the girls or not?" Nautilus snapped, tossing him a screwdriver.

Haga growled and approached the skylight. Holding the screwdriver like a dagger, the bug boy peered at the edge of the window in front of him. "Okay, where do I start…" he muttered. "Oh what the hey!" With that he took aim and jabbed his 'weapon' right below the window. The result was nothing less than unexpected! Haga screamed as a jolt of electricity flowed through him, a jolt strong enough to light up the lenses of his glasses! Then something even stranger happened!

The screen on Nautilus' laptop began to change. And the rest of the team can tell that it was a good kind of change. "Yes!" Nautilus cheered, "I'm through! Now let's return the favor, shall we?" Once more, gracefully nimble fingers tapped on the keyboard as he input the rest of the nearly finished code. "Bingo!" he stated as he pressed the enter key to finish the job.

* * *

In the control room, Kisara was beginning to hesitate as her fear was getting the better of her. Bakura pressed his pistol, urging her to finish. Finally, the blue eyed model put in the last piece of the code, but just as she reached out to finish the job, the computer suddenly lit up, followed by a voice announcing, "ALARM SYSTEM DEACTIVATED."

While this confused the captive models Bakura just smirked. "Good job." He stated, and dragged his hostage towards him. "Let's get the Diamond."

* * *

Back on the roof, Haga panted heavily, relieved that his shock treatment had ended. "All right, we're in!" Nautilus cheered in triumph. In simple frustration the bug boy jabbed the metal lining the window.

"You owe me big time…" Haga muttered.

"Aw yeah!" Obelisk declared, "Now that the window is safe to open, it's time for me to do my thing!" The drummer cracked his knuckles, then added, "Better stand back, though! It's not gonna be pretty." With that, he took a deep breath and grabbed hold of the window. He let out a long grunt as he pulled hard. Several snapping sounds came from the window, and before he knew it, he was beginning to fall backwards—right toward the rest of the team!

"YAAHH! BACK OFF NOW!" Yugi shouted, and everybody rushed away from the falling window just in the nick of time.

Well, almost everybody.

At least four people got caught in the collapse along with Obelisk: Haga, Ryuzaki, Honda and Jonouchi. The sandy blonde and his friend tried to run, but they weren't fast enough. As for the two perverts, they were too shocked and bug-eyed to move at all. When it was over, only one thing was heard from the drummer's lips from under the now fallen window:

"Ouch…"

* * *

Just outside the display room, Vivian got started on using the laser beam to unlock the door. "We're almost there."

Bakura chuckled, eyeing his hostages. "The countdown begins."

* * *

At the skylight, those who had fallen victim to the window incident quickly recovered in time to join their teammates as they peered down. "There it is everyone," Yugi stated, "The Millennium Diamond." Sure enough, a beautiful diamond was resting on a display stand that looked like the statue of an Ancient Egyptian goddess. The diamond was clear and round like a multifaceted crystal ball, sparkling in spotlight.

"Wow…" Anzu gasped, "It's beautiful!"

"And now I can see why Mai and Mystique have treasured this baby!" Jonouchi mused.

There was a slight pause, before Honda finally asked, "So how are we going to get down here and set up the sneak attack?"

"Maybe we could jump down there." Ryuzaki suggested.

"Dummy, it's approximately 100 feet from here!" Anzu hissed, "We could get killed if we did that!"

"I didn't say it was a good idea." Ryuzaki barked.

"We could always jump halfway…" Haga muttered. To which everyone else glared. "Or not."

* * *

Vivian smirked in satisfaction when she heard a snap and a clatter of metal falling on the floor. "We're in." She simply stated. Bakura said nothing, but pushed the button.

* * *

It didn't take long before our heroes caught sight of the sliding door and saw the thieves. "Whoa, there they are!" Slifer whispered.

"Then that means the stage is set." Yugi replied. "Remember, we have to catch them off guard and stall them long enough for my brother to arrive with the others."

"And how exactly do we do that?" Coral asked. As they continued to watch, the thieves approached the glass case that contained the Millennium Diamond.

"All right Vivian," Bakura stated, handing Kisara to the ex-model in question, "You and Varon make sure the ladies don't escape. Marik and I will take it from here." Once the hostages were secured, the master thief and his de facto partner-in-crime took out the tool they needed.

"As strange as it seems," Yugi whispered, "we're already set for a sneak attack." When his teammates looked upon him with confusion, he explained, "We'll simply climb down to them from up here. You know how, don't you Emeraude?"

The tomboy bassist gasped with inspiration, then smiled. "Of course! I got enough ropes for all of us!" She held out one of the ropes in question.

"Aw yeah! Way to use your noggin Yugi!" Honda stated.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Jonouchi encouraged, "Let's get ourselves ready!"

"I'm just happy we don't have use those paper towels!" Obelisk noted in relief, and with that, everyone set to work putting their sneak attack to motion.

Note: Only two more chapters left and I'm done! By the way, the Shakespeare's Pizza reference in this story was based on a real pizza joint of the same name near the town where I live. Anyway, in the next chapter, the stage is set for the final showdown. Will Yugi be able to pull of his sneak attack? And will his brother and cousin make it to the gallery in time to help save the day? Either way, there's one more unexpected twist in this tale! Until Next Time!


End file.
